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NEW  YOR 


CATALOGUE  OF 
PAINTINGS 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF 

MR.  AND  MRS.  CHARLES  P.  TAFT 

AT  CINCINNATI,  OHIO 


BY 

MAURICE  W.  BROCKWELL 


NEW  YORK  CITY 
PRIVATELY  PRINTED 
1920 


LIST  OF  PLATES 

The  Residence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft 

IN  Pike  Street,  Cincinnati 

In  Summer  Frontispiece 

The  Same  House,  in  Winter  .     .     .      facing  page  xiv 


PREFACE 


HOW  many  people — not  being  conscientious  reviewers 
— have  ever  read  a  Catalogue  of  Paintings,  whether 
the  collection  was  situated  in  their  native  place  or 
not?  In  any  event,  this  catalogue  raisonne  seems  to  be  the 
first  to  be  written  on  a  Cincinnati  collection  and  printed  on 
this  scale. 

More  than  a  quarter  of  our  pictures  had  already  been  con- 
summated by  December  28,  1788 — or  2246  years  later  than 
the  historic  episode  in  the  life  of  the  patrician  agriculturist 
L.  Quinctius  Cincinnatus  himself — when  "the  settlement  of 
Cincinnati  was  formed,  with  a  population  of  ten  families 
besides  twenty-four  unmarried  men."  The  men  and  women 
who  had  assembled  in  such  circumstances,  or  who  came  out 
later,  to  people  the  Middle  West  must  have  possessed  hope 
and  resolution  to  a  remarkable  degree  and  their  children  been 
ardent  and  practical.  Its  people  being  imbued  with  such  char- 
acteristics, "the  late  humble  village  of  Cincinnati"  had  by 
October  18,  1838,  founded  its  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  A  local 
directory  of  that  period  recorded  the  population  as  23,261 
and  ventured  to  prophesy  that  the  city  would  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  "one  of  the  points  where  art  is  one  day  to  rear 
proud  trophies  and  to  speak  with  a  new  power  to  the  sense  of 
the  beautiful."  The  editor  was  quite  aware  that  "it  would 
require  great  individual  wealth  to  form  an  art  collection." 
We  do  not  wonder  that  "the  Queen  City"  had  to  wait  more 
than  half  a  century  longer  for  one  of  its  citizens  to  deposit, 
within  its  walls,  a  collection  of  oil  paintings  of  the  aesthetic 
excellence  and  historical  importance  that  will  concern  us  in 
these  pages. 


PREFACE 

Although  we  are  in  this  book  concerned  exclusively  with 
paintings,  we  may  recall  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft  began  to 
acquire  ceramics,  rock-crystals,  and  other  objets  d'art  before 
entering  the  picture  field.  They  had,  in  fact,  published  Mr. 
John  Getz's  "Catalogue  of  Chinese  Porcelains"  through  The 
De  Vinne  Press  in  1904.  However,  the  present  writer  will 
not  have  the  presumption  to  criticize — for  they  are  outside  his 
range — the  treasures  of  decorative  applied  or  industrial  art, 
obviously  of  the  first  order  throughout,  that  the  house  con- 
tains. Yet,  en  passant,  we  cannot  overlook  the  inestimable 
quality,  among  the  Limoges  enamels,  of  the  "Portrait  of  the 
Due  de  Guise"  by  Leonard  Limosin,  which  successively  be- 
longed to  Baron  Achille  Seilliere  and  M.  Maurice  Kann,  and 
was  acclaimed  in  France  as  having  few  superiors  even  in  the 
Louvre.  Still  more  brief  must  be  our  reference  to  the  fine 
terra-cotta  reliefs,  covered  with  enamel,  of  the  "Madonna  and 
Child"  by  Luca  della  Robbia.  They  are,  in  fact,  among  the 
singularly  few  examples  of  Italian  art-manifestation  that  the 
collection  contains,  although  so  rich  in  examples  of  post- 
Italian  art. 

Having  beautified  their  house  with  such  works  of  fine 
craftsmanship — and  they  seem  to  be  innumerable — Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Taft  avowedly  sought  to  make  their  home  replete,  but 
not  overcrowded,  with  representative  and,  above  all,  well  pre- 
served pictures.  These,  they  aimed,  should  exemplify  the  art 
of  Holland  in  the  full  range  of  its  renaissance,  and  manifest 
the  late  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  century  school  of  Eng- 
lish portraiture  and  landscape  painting.  (It  is  still  ridicu- 
lously dubbed  the  "Early  English  School.")  Their  selection, 
they  felt,  could  in  logical  continuation  illustrate  the  full  scope 
of  the  Barbizon  School  in  the  second  and  third  quarters  of  the 
last  century.  Later,  and  in  a  sense  by  chance,  there  came  to 
be  added  a  few  Spanish  pictures,  and  to  these  followed  even 
in  quite  recent  days  a  few  American  canvases.  The  collection 
in  embryo  dates  back  to  about  1902,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft, 
during  a  visit  to  New  York,  took  the  first  step  towards 


PREFACE 

acquiring  their  present  possessions.  "Having  stepped  out  late 
one  afternoon  to  buy  old  art  on  the  Avenue,"  as  it  was  once  suc- 
cinctly expressed  to  the  present  writer,  they  chose  ten  pictures 
forthwith  and  bore  them  off  in  triumph,  and  with  set  purpose, 
to  their  dignified  and  peaceful  home  in  Cincinnati.  They  had, 
indeed,  exhausted  the  supply  in  the  galleries  they  visited,  so  far 
as  it  affected  their  objective.  We  must,  however,  admit  that 
a  full  measure  of  good  luck  attended  their  earliest  transaction 
in  this  field.  Luck,  of  course,  is  a  decisive  factor  in  all  human 
existence.  "If  the  nose  of  Cleopatra  had  been  a  little  larger," 
Pascal  says,  "the  history  of  the  whole  world  would  have  been 
different."  Fortunately,  Mr.  Scott  and  Mr.  Fowles  had 
grasped  the  situation  ah  initio,  and  took  steps  accordingly. 

Seventeen  years  ago  the  era  of  high  prices  was  only  just 
beginning,  and  it  was  still  possible  for  Americans  who  would 
practise  patience,  and  place  trust  in  those  engaged  in  the  actual 
chasse,  to  acquire  admirable  paintings  by  the  Old  Masters. 
Also  in  those  days  the  contents  of  the  leading  private  collec- 
tions of  England — whence  most  of  these  paintings  were  to 
issue — had  not  yet  been  enregimente  sous  iin  numero  by  differ- 
ent English  critics  or  run  to  earth  by  the  ubiquitous  German. 
The  days  of  the  "tuppenny  box"  of  book-lovers  are  gone,  and 
the  professionals  "work  over"  the  heaps  pertinaciously.  The 
store  of  art-treasure  in  England  is  still  vast,  and  the  outbreak 
of  war  has  greatly  retarded — if,  indeed,  it  has  not  terminated — 
the  exportation  from  England  of  really  covetable  works. 
Two  citizens  of  Cincinnati  are,  therefore,  to  be  congratulated 
on  beginning  their  operations  in  time.  By  191 1  their  undertak- 
ing had  been  carried  through,  with  catholicity  of  taste.  Dur- 
ing that  summer  the  majority  of  these  paintings  were  lent  to 
the  Cincinnati  Museum  Association.  "There  has  never  been 
a  year  in  the  history  of  the  Association,"  as  the  thirty-first  An- 
nual Report  states,  "when  the  picture  galleries  have  contained 
so  many  important  exhibits.  First  among  them  was  the  col- 
lection of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft,  lent  to  the  Museum 
for  the  period  from  May  until  October,  occupying  the  largest 

Cxi] 


PREFACE 

of  our  galleries  with  seventy-one  canvases  of  remarkable  inter- 
est. It  rarely  happens  in  this  country  that  so  important  a  pri- 
vate collection  is  lent  for  public  view  for  so  long  a  period,  and 
the  opportunity  for  studying  at  leisure  the  great  masters  was 
enjoyed  by  many  of  the  people  of  Cincinnati,  who  will  long 
remember  this  rare  occasion." 

While  Cincinnati  was  so  favoured,  New  York  had  no  cause 
for  complaint.  For  on  several  occasions,  notably  in  1909  and 
again  in  19 13  and  19 14,  a  few  of  the  canvases  were  generously 
"exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York" — as  we  shall  repeatedly 
point  out  in  the  following  pages — at  the  galleries  of  Messrs. 
Scott  and  Fowles. 

During  the  Great  War,  concluded  by  a  just  peace,  only  two 
purchases  were  made  and  they  in  peculiar  circumstances.  It  is, 
moreover,  noteworthy  that  the  canvases  were  American  and 
from  the  hand  of  a  Cincinnati  artist.  Strangely  enough,  the 
more  important  of  them  (No.  77)  had  been  painted  in  Munich 
many  years  ago,  and  sold  there  for  twelve  dollars.  But  Du- 
veneck's  unfinished  sketch  of  "A  Young  Girl"  was  painted  at 
a  later  period,  when  he  was  somewhat  influenced  by  French 
methods,  as  Mr.  Taft  has  pointed  out.  It  was  so  recently  ac- 
quired that  it  is  not  catalogued  in  these  pages. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  one  Englishman,  whose  dual 
experience  of  pictures  is  not  easy  to  surpass,  should  hold  that 
this  ''is  the  most  level  and  the  best  presented  collection  in  the 
country,  a  beautiful  collection  of  things  lived  with,  and  not  in 
a  gallery.   An  excellent  and  careful  choice  was  made." 

Subsequently  another  English  traveller,  Sir  Frederick  Smith, 
now  Lord  Chancellor  Birkenhead,  published  through  the  New 
York  Sun  (April  20,  191 8)  an  account  of  his  "American 
Visit,"  in  which,  in  Chapter  V,  he  writes:  "Mr.  Taft  invited 
us  to  his  house,  where,  as  he  modestly  put  it,  he  had  'a  few 
things  he  would  like  us  to  see.'  On  the  way  to  his  house  he 
showed  us  the  much  discussed  Lincoln  statue.  We  then  went 
to  Mr.  Taft's  house,  an  old-fashioned,  low,  charming  house, 
which  had  evidently  once  been  situated  in  the  suburbs  of  the 


PREFACE 

town  but  was  now  dwarfed  on  each  side  by  immense  factories : 
the  kind  of  house,  and  I  should  think  Cincinnati  the  kind  of 
town  (physically,  of  course,  not  morally),  which  Winston 
Churchill  wrote  of  in  'The  Inside  of  the  Cup.'  In  front  of 
the  house  the  vigilance  of  our  host  had  kept  a  fine  open  space. 
We  were  very  little  prepared  for  the  treasures  of  art  which  it 
contained.  I  do  not  think  that  I  have  ever  seen  in  one  private 
house  a  collection  of  masterpieces  with  which  I  was  so  much 
delighted.  I  would  gladly  have  spent  hours  amid  these  en- 
chanting surroundings." 

Access  to  these  treasures  has  always  been  accorded  without 
stint  to  those  genuinely  interested  in  art  history,  and  the  house 
has  frequently  been  thrown  open  to  members  attending  any 
convention  in  this  city.  In  the  writer's  own  experience  the 
number  of  persons  who  pass  through  its  portals,  on  certain 
days  at  least,  and  manage  in  a  brief  hour  to  give  the  house 
and  its  contents  un  coup  d'ceil,  is  quite  remarkable.  To  all  it 
is  apparent  that  there  are  no  Olympian  poses  in  this  frame 
house — only  kindliness  and  good  humour. 

Several  pictures  here  meet  again  after  a  lapse  of  time. 
There  being  no  Italian  paintings,  there  are  no  separate  parts 
from  altarpieces  dismembered  in  Europe.  Also,  none  is 
painted  in  tempera.  But  we  have  a  finely  chosen  selection  of 
superb  Turner  water-colours.  The  rest  are  in  oil.  There  are 
no  "primitives."  We  shall  find  a  remarkably  large  proportion 
of  portraits,  there  being  twenty-six  in  all.  But,  to  our  surprise, 
not  one  calls  for  a  knowledge  of  heraldry.  We  have  studied 
these  treasures  from  almost  every  angle,  except  the  commercial. 
It  is  peculiar  that  so  many  collectors  pretend  to  "have  no  use 
for"  the  kind  of  data  we  have  assembled:  so  frequently  it  is 
within  their  reach,  if  outside  their  ken.  The  inevitable  result  is 
that  traditions  regarding  the  pictures  die  out,  especially  in  this 
new  soil,  and  a  mass  of  heterogeneous  information  passes  into 
oblivion.    Littera  scripta  manet. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  catalogue  will  prove  consonant  with 
such  an  environment.    It  is  essentially  meant  for  the  pleasure. 


PREFACE 

and  the  use,  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft's  immediate  circle.  It 
is,  therefore,  of  a  format  that  can  be  easily  handled,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  bulky  tomes  that  some  collectors  affection. 
For  those  and  other  reasons,  it  contains  no  reproductions. 
But  we  can  judge  of  the  external  appearance  of  the  house  dur- 
ing both  Summer  {Frontispiece )  and  Winter  {facing  this  page). 
Who  would  think  from  these  plates  that  the  house  is  situated 
almost  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  but  a  short  distance  from 
the  right  bank  of  the  Ohio  River  in  its  gradual  bend? 

It  is  fitting  that  we  place  on  record  the  visit,  on  October  22, 
1919,  of  their  Majesties  the  King  and  Queen  of  the  Belgians 
to  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft.  For  on  that  day  Cincin- 
nati devoted  itself  whole-heartedly  to  the  solemnity  of  so  rare 
an  occasion. 

We  have  endeavoured  to  lay  stress  on  the  external  facts 
regarding  the  pictures,  and  each  has  its  own  romantic  history. 
We  touch  on,  rather  than  deal  with,  historical  events  and  their 
immediate  consequences.  If  in  places  we  have  been  discursive, 
it  has  been  to  aid  those  who  are  not  familiar  with,  or  have  not 
ready  access  to,  the  immense  literature  on  the  subject  in  hand. 
The  book,  as  originally  projected,  has  been  extended  consid- 
erably as  the  work  advanced,  but  is,  we  hope,  not  thereby  un- 
balanced. In  places  it  now  has  an  encyclopaedic  significance  in 
some  special  relation.  After  all,  the  detail  is  referred  to  a 
great  end — the  pleasure  of  those  who  may  want  to  know  more 
about  these  pictures.  Accuracy  has  been  aimed  at,  but  so 
vast  are  the  issues  involved  that  it  may  be  unattainable.  One 
may  console  oneself  with  the  reflection:  nemo  mortalium  om- 
nibus horis  sapit. 

M.  W.  B. 

New  York, 
August,  19 1 9. 


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INTRODUCTION 


(a^  The  Portraits  and  Figure  Pieces 

LTHOUGH  the  strength  of  the  collection  lies  in  its 
/-A  Dutch,  English  and  French  pictures,  it  also  includes,  as 
we  shall  see,  a  few  Spanish  and  American.  But  the 
earliest  work  of  all  belongs,  in  its  solitary  grandeur,  to  the 
Flemish  School.  This  "Portrait  of  Paolina  Adorno,  Marchesa 
di  Brignole  Sale"  (No.  14),  was  painted  by  Van  Dyck  about 
1625 ;  and  for  half  a  century  after  that  date  the  Middle  West 
was  terra  incognita  to  the  whites.  By  its  inherently  decorative 
qualities  and  Old-World  charm,  by  the  scale  upon  which  it  is 
fashioned  and  the  position  in  which  it  hangs  in  the  Green 
Room,  it  dominates  its  environment  in  a  house  that  is  essen- 
tially one  that  is  lived  in.  Was  there  ever  so  great  a  contrast 
between  the  styles  of  the  late  Flemish  and  the  nineteenth- 
century  French  schools  as  is  here  presented  by  the  "Paolina" 
on  the  end  wall  and  Millet's  "La  Maternite"  (No.  12)  by  the 
window?  The  one  exemplifies  the  courtly  grandeur  and  full- 
chorded  bombast  of  Spanish  civilization  in  a  colonial  setting 
in  Italy;  the  other  portrays  the  infinite  tenderness  of  a  peasant 
woman,  dressed  in  the  coarse  brown  homespun  of  her  kind, 
and  looking  down  upon  the  small  bundle  of  humanity  in  her 
arms. 

Passing  to  the  Dutchmen  of  the  seventeenth  century,  we 
encounter  the  "Portrait  of  Michielsz  de  Wael"  (No.  17),  by 
Frans  Hals.  His  flushed  cheeks  and  rosy  nose  tell  a  tale  that 
is  more  easy  to  read  as  the  years  advance,  when  he  comes  to 


INTRODUCTION 

be  included  among  the  same  artist's  "Officers  of  the  St. 
George's  Shooting  Company"  of  1639.  ^^t  how  dignified  is 
his  bearing  here  and  how  brave-looking  his  figure,  while  his 
lemon-coloured  gloves  give  a  note  of  distinction  to  this  bon 
viveur  of  Haarlem.  More  universal  in  their  appeal,  and  more 
subtle  in  their  colour  scheme,  are  Hals's  companion  portraits 
of  "The  Young  Man"  (No.  27)  and  "The  Young  Woman  of 
Haarlem"  (No.  28).  They  were  painted  at  the  very  finest 
moment  of  his  career,  before  his  art  showed  any  incipient  sign 
of  gradually  diminishing  power.  It  is  the  unanimous  opinion 
of  those  critics  who  have  seen  them — they  were  never  shown 
in  Europe — that  they  are  without  a  rival  in  any  national 
museum  or  private  collection. 

Why  is  it,  one  may  ask,  that,  of  all  the  great  painters,  Rem- 
brandt is  the  one  who  appeals  most  strongly  and  insistently  to 
the  American  collector?  The  reason  may  be  sought  in  the 
fact  that  his  pictures  are  numerous;  his  art  touches  many 
people  more  closely  than  that  of  any  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  Old  Masters — some  eight  or  ten  of  them  deserve  to  be 
ranked  in  the  forefront — and  we  know  so  much  about  his  life 
that  we  can  realize  how  he  met,  with  equanimity,  the  smiles 
and  frowns  of  fickle  Fortune.  Moreover,  he  was  not  satisfied 
unless  he  clothed  in  an  enduring  form  not  only  his  own  life 
and  his  own  feelings,  but  the  world  that  revolved  about  him. 
Strangely  enough,  his  "Young  Man  rising  from  his  Chair" 
(No.  13),  of  1633,  used  to  pass  in  1865,  in  the  hotel  of  the 
Comte  de  Pourtales-Gorgier,  in  Paris,  as  a  "Bourguemestre," 
and  had  as  an  immediate  companion  Hals's  "Laughing  Cav- 
alier" of  1624,  which  is  now  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the 
Wallace  Collection  in  London.  The  latter  was  then  described 
as  "peut-etre  un  militaire." 

Technically,  even  finer  than  his  "Young  Man  rising"  (No. 
13)  is  Rembrandt's  broadly  treated  and  pathetic  "Elderly 
Woman"  (No.  15),  painted  some  nine  years  later,  when  he 
was  grief-stricken  by  the  death  of  his  beloved  wife,  Saskia. 
The  date  of  our  canvas  has  never  until  now  been  correctly 


INTRODUCTION 

rendered  as  1642,  a  year  which  witnessed  the  execution  of  his 
famous  "Night  Watch"  at  Amsterdam. 

The  accomplished  "small  master"  Terborch  portrays,  with 
searching  fidelity,  the  domestic  life  of  middle-class  Hollanders, 
as  we  see  in  his  "Sleeping  Soldier"  (No.  11).  But  no  less 
closely  observed  is  Steen's  "The  Sick  Lady"  (No.  10),  or 
rather  "The  Love-Sick  Lady."  She,  doubtless,  yearns  for  the 
attentions  of  some  such  gay  Jonkheer  as  Michielsz  de  Wael, 
whose  portrait  we  have  already  touched  upon.  How  mundane 
is  the  outlook  on  life  of  the  protagonist  in  Adriaen  van  Os- 
tade's  "Interior  of  a  Carpenter's  Shop"  (No.  18),  even 
though  the  eye  may  feast  on  the  multitudinous  detail  afforded 
by  the  dress  of  the  carpenter,  the  tub,  jug,  chair,  dog,  baskets 
and  boards,  the  window  and  the  wall,  the  rafters — and  the 
smoked  hams!  What  an  antithesis  there  is  between  Van 
Ostade's  "Old  Toper"  (No.  53) — whose  counterpart  may 
perhaps  be  met  with  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio — and  the  pala- 
tial existence,  the  courtly  costume,  the  airs  and  graces  of  the 
cherished  "Paolina"  (No.  14),  in  her  portrait  d'apparat!  It 
would  be  idle  to  claim  for  Bol's  "The  Artist"  (No.  9),  repre- 
sentative of  that  painter's  best  period  as  it  undoubtedly  is, 
any  of  the  highly  spiritualized  emotion  that  we  find  in  the 
works  of  his  master,  Rembrandt.  And  to  the  latter,  as  we 
may  readily  imagine,  this  young  clean-shaven  man's  portrait 
was  assigned  a  century  ago. 

When  we  remember  the  intensity  of  expression  seen  in  the 
great  Amsterdam  master's  works,  the  consummate  technical 
equipment  of  his  contemporary  "small  masters,"  and  the  sig- 
nificance of  their  men  and  women  in  their  dramatic  moments, 
we  are  apt  to  become  ultra-critical  and  find  an  initial  diflliculty 
in  esteeming,  at  their  full  worth,  some  of  the  pictures  by  the 
men  in  the  modern  School  of  The  Hague.  It  is  perhaps  the 
Old-World  setting,  the  glamour  of  a  bygone  age,  that  marks 
the  hiatus.  Times  and  customs  may  change,  but  human  nature 
remains.    By  1870  Josef  Israels  paints  peasants  with  much 


INTRODUCTION 

sympathy  for  their  innermost  thoughts.  Of  this  we  may  judge 
from  his  small  'Tick-a-back"  (No.  65),  and,  with  much  more 
conviction,  from  his  "Sewing-School  at  Katwijk"  (No.  68). 
The  latter  work  was  formerly  in  the  collection  of  J.  Staats 
Forbes.  So  numerous  were  his  modern  Dutch  and  French 
pictures  that  after  his  death  they  had  to  be  stored  in  the  pri- 
vate offices  of  a  relative,  who  was  the  General  Manager  of 
the  London  and  Brighton  Railway  and  who  had  to  place 
them  literally  in  heaps  and  rows  in  the  London  terminal! 
There  is,  however,  little  justification  for  calling  Israels  "the 
Dutch  Millet."  For  Israels  was  brought  up  and  passed  his 
whole  life  in  comfortable  surroundings:  Millet  felt  the  pinch 
of  poverty  and  had  numerous  disappointments  almost  up  to 
the  very  end.  The  "Sewing-School"  is  so  well  known  that  no 
wonder  Mr.  Taft  coveted  it  from  the  moment  it  was  exhibited 
at  the  Guildhall  in  1903;  and  within  a  few  years  he  had  the 
good  fortune  to  claim  it  as  his  own. 

There  is  an  every-day  simplicity  about  the  "Boy  with  a 
Hoop"  (No.  64),  which  stands  to  the  credit  of  Matthew 
Maris.  His  manner  of  life,  unlike  his  painting,  was  mysteri- 
ous, and  his  seclusion  in  advancing  years  gave  birth  to  many  ru- 
mours of  abject  poverty.  Such  stories,  nevertheless,  were  sheer 
invention  and  the  circulation  of  them  had,  in  great  degree,  been 
encouraged  by  the  painter  himself  for  his  own  self-protection 
and  greater  privacy.   With  Jacob  Maris  we  deal  below. 

From  the  art  of  Holland  to  that  of  England  is  but  a  short 
step :  only  a  century  intervenes  in  the  pictures  that  are  ranked 
highest.  The  art  of  England  prior  to  the  Reformation  was 
world-famous,  as  is  attested  by  illuminated  manuscripts  and 
other  surviving  forms  of  artistic  expression.  But  its  widest 
appeal  to-day  is  made  by  its  dignified  portraits — above  all,  of 
beautiful  ladies — of  the  late  eighteenth  century.  Considera- 
tions of  style  and  biography,  in  the  absence  of  signatures  and 
dates  from  the  canvases,  enable  us  to  date  exactly  the  English 
portraits  in  this  collection.    Thus  to  1776  we  can  assign  the 

1:  XVIII] 


INTRODUCTION 


*'Mrs.  Weyland  and  her  Eldest  Son"  (No.  34)  by  Reynolds, 
whose  individual  search  for  human  happiness  lay  in  not  being 
annoyed  by  trifles  and  in  his  ability  to  withdraw  his  mind,  like 
a  true  philosopher,  from  disagreeable  matters  and  focus  it  on 
the  subject  in  hand.  Such  qualities  make  for  the  spiritual  con- 
tent, dignity  and  balance  that  characterize  the  portraits  of  the 
Royal  Academy's  first  President  and  all  great  limners — to  use 
a  term  of  the  period.  The  portrait  of  the  lady  before  us  was 
apparently  begun  in  1774,  and  at  the  end  of  that  year  the  child 
was  born,  the  consequence  being  that  the  canvas  was  not  com- 
pleted until  two  years  later.  It  was  one  of  thirteen  sent  in  by 
Reynolds  to  the  annual  exhibition  in  1776. 

Later,  we  may  assume,  came  that  of  the  unfortunate  but 
not  impeccable  "Mary  Robinson"  (No.  35), — we  speak  of 
the  lady  herself,  and  not  of  her  portrait, — who,  perhaps  to 
our  surprise,  was  born  in  America.  It  is  fitting,  therefore, 
that  her  features  should  have  been  committed  to  canvas  in 
England  for  our  contemplation  in  this  country.  Another  re- 
markable thing  about  the  picture  before  us  is  that  it  hung  for 
many  years  previous  to  1906  in  the  same  house  at  Rochetts, 
Brentwood,  Essex,  and  in  close  company  with  Jan  Steen's  "Sick 
Lady"  (No.  10).  But  there  was  this  difference  in  the  life  of 
the  two  ladies  just  mentioned :  the  maitresse  en  litre  of  George, 
Prince  of  Wales,  enjoyed,  if  only  for  a  brief  period,  the 
worldly  pleasures  that  she  fancied  essential  to  her  existence, 
while  the  one  in  Steen's  creation,  for  all  we  know,  went  down 
to  the  grave  unblemished  in  her  honour,  even  though,  in  her 
case,  "of  no  avail  was  medicine." 

Brilliant  as  a  technician,  but  not,  we  imagine,  as  a  philoso- 
pher, was  Reynolds's  rival,  Gainsborough.  His  portrait  of 
"Maria,  Duchess  of  Gloucester"  (No.  21),  in  high  powdered 
tete  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  court  attire,  was  exhibited  in 
1779,  and  was  to  remain  in  one  of  the  royal  collections  until 
the  sale  of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge's  pictures  in  1904.  Con- 
summate is  the  mastery  with  which  are  rendered  the  externals 
as  well  as  "the  form  and  pressure  of  the  mind"  of  this  great 


INTRODUCTION 


lady,  who,  in  the  opinion  of  her  near  relative,  Horace  Walpole, 
was  "the  first  match  in  England,"  and  who  "had  not  a  fault 
in  her  face  and  person."  That  the  canvas  is  to-day  of  kit-cat 
measurement  is  probably  a  chance,  and  we  discuss  elsewhere 
in  what  circumstances  this  "whole-length"  came  to  represent 
"the  handsomest  woman  in  England"  resting  her  left  arm 
upon  a  pedestal. 

Much  later — indeed,  almost  at  the  end  of  his  active  career 
— came  Gainsborough's  "Tomkinson  Boys"  (No.  i),  with  the 
boy  William  seated  on  a  bank  and  his  cousin  Edward  standing 
by  his  side.  Until  1889  this  delightful  double  portrait  had 
not  been  heard  of  since  1784,  when  it  had  been  withdrawn 
from  the  Academy  together  with  seven  other  portraits.  How 
refreshing  it  is  to  look  into  the  happy  faces  of  the  Tomkinson 
boys,  after  closely  analyzing  the  vicious  features  of  Maria 
Luisa  (No.  6),  who  lurks  in  a  corner  of  the  same  room! 

Romney's  "Portrait  of  Mrs.  Johnson"  (No.  24),  in  a 
white  dress  and  large  blue  hat,  was,  we  take  it,  painted  in 
1786,  the  year  of  her  marriage  and  the  finest  moment  of 
Romney's  art.  From  the  lakes  of  Cumberland  and  West- 
moreland, the  original  home  of  "the  man  in  Cavendish 
Square,"  we  quite  naturally  pass  to  the  Scottish  painter,  Rae- 
burn.  We  are  enchanted  by  the  simplicity  and  lighting  of  two 
of  the  family  portraits  of  the  Erasers.  "Edward  Satchwell 
Eraser"  (No.  59)  is  here  painted  in  1803,  at  the  age 
of  seventeen.  The  "Portrait  of  Miss  Jane  Fraser-Tytler" 
(No.  56),  in  low-cut  white  dress,  well  hangs  as  the  companion 
to  the  boy,  who  is  in  a  green  and  blue  tartan  coat  and  white 
waistcoat.  But  they  are  no  longer  found  in  the  company  of 
their  relations,  as  they  were  until  1897. 

There  are  three  examples  of  Hoppner.  That  of  "Mrs. 
Gwyn"  (No.  25),  so  well  known  as  "the  Jessamy  Bride," 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  family  until  1889,  after 
which  it  belonged  to  Henry  Marquand.  Like  "Little  Comedy" 
and  their  brother,  known  from  Goldsmith's  familiar  jingle  as 
"the  Captain  in  lace,"  she  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 


INTRODUCTION 


private  life  of  Reynolds.  Mrs.  Gwyn  lived  to  be  eighty-seven 
years  of  age.  But  a  shorter  and  a  less  eventful  career  was 
that  of  "Miss  Agnes  Coussmaker"  (No.  22),  whom  Hoppner 
painted  in  1788,  or  six  years  earlier  than  "Mrs.  Parkyns, 
afterwards  Lady  Rancliffe"  (No.  36). 

Although  there  are  many  exceptions  to  the  rule,  the  average 
female  portrait  in  oils  by  Lawrence  has  either  an  underlying 
Greuze-like  quality  of  meretriciousness  or  a  cloying  superfi- 
ciality. It  is,  therefore,  with  some  satisfaction  that  we  here 
find  Lawrence  represented  only  by  a  delicate  pencil  drawing  of 
"The  Ladies  Maryborough"  (No.  58).  Lawrence  launched, 
though  quite  unconsciously,  a  movement  that  was  to  have  evil 
consequences  in  the  domain  of  portrait  painting.  Indeed,  if  we 
momentarily  pass  over  the  landscapes  of  Turner  and  Con- 
stable, which  we  shall  treat  of  in  due  course,  we  come  down 
rather  precipitately  to  the  year  1905  and  the  somewhat  facti- 
tious title,  "A  World  of  Their  Own"  (No.  76),  given  by 
Alma-Tadema.  We  can't  imagine  Rembrandt,  Hals,  Van 
Dyck  or  Gainsborough  placing  a  chronogram  or  inventory 
mark  on  one  of  their  works,  as  Alma-Tadema  invariably  did. 

A  note  of  tragedy  is  sounded  by  the  "Portrait  of  Charles 
Frederick  Fowles"  (No.  81 ),  by  the  well  known  contemporary 
English  painter,  Harrington  Mann;  for  his  death  in  the  prime 
of  life  on  the  high  seas  was  such  as  not  only  to  arouse  the 
sympathy  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft,  but  to  lead  them,  out  of 
regard  for  his  valuable  assistance  in  forming  the  collection,  to 
have  a  posthumous,  memorial  portrait  of  him  painted  to 
hang  among  their  other  pictures.  Beyond  a  doubt,  the  whole 
collection  is  powdered  by  the  impress  of  his  personality. 

In  what  must  be  a  rapid  survey  of  the  French  School  we 
may  deal  in  this  place  with  the  figure  subjects,  as  distinct  from 
landscapes;  they  come  from  the  hands  of  Decamps,  Isabey, 
Millet,  Meissonier  and  Monticelli.  Already  we  have  enthu- 
siastically discussed  Millet's  masterpiece  (No.  12)  in  the 
Green  Room.    We  have  in  it — a  picture  entirely  unknown  in 


INTRODUCTION 

Europe — gazed  upon  a  dark  wall  with  a  crucifix  dimly  outlined 
upon  it,  and  seen  the  idea  of  the  cross  repeated  in  the  attitude 
of  the  infant,  whose  arms  are  outstretched  to  make  a  cross 
with  its  body.  How  different  is  that  canvas,  in  which  we  may 
judge  of  the  sheer  humanity  evinced  by  this  aging  painter  of 
the  poetry  of  toil,  from  his  vigorous  ^'Mother  and  Child" 
(No.  52)  in  the  Drawing-room!  Decamps'  "Le  Frondeur" 
(No.  29),  while  in  the  Secretan  Collection,  hung  within  strik- 
ing distance  of  the  wonderful  "Landscape"  (No.  20)  by  Hob- 
bema,  which  again  to-day  is  separated  from  it  by  a  few  feet 
only.  "The  auctioneer  may  knock  down  these  magnificent 
works,"  it  was  justly  held  in  1889,  "but  he  cannot  dispel  the 
remembrance  of  this  radiant  ensemble  of  art  formed  by  M. 
Secretan."  Isabey  is  perhaps  best  known  for  his  marine  sub- 
jects and  historical  genre,  but  is  here  represented  by  a  scene 
in  a  French  church  entitled  "The  Sacrament"  (No.  31).  The 
figures  in  Meissonier's  "Bons  Amis"  (No.  75)  show  compo- 
sure in  a  rather  prosaic  environment,  but  there  is  nothing  sub- 
dued or  sedate  about  the  "Fete  Champetre"  (No.  5)  by  Mon- 
ticelli,  who,  temperamental  as  he  was,  delighted  to  "sport  with 
Amaryllis  in  the  shade." 

If  we  wend  our  way  to  Spain,  not  in  the  days  of  its  almost 
mediaeval  magnificence  and  stern  etiquette,  but  during  the  ill- 
fated  reign  of  "Maria  Luisa"  (No.  6),  we  find  Goya,  with 
the  sobriety  and  the  self-application  of  the  Court  Painter, 
making  in  1779  what  is  pretty  certainly  the  original  study, 
fully  finished,  for  the  figure  in  the  large  "Family  Group  of 
Carlos  IV."  Extraordinary,  as  we  shall  see,  is  the  contrast 
in  character,  pose,  jewelry,  and  the  texture  of  mere  habili- 
ments between  this  latter-day  Queen  of  Spain  and  the  dignified 
"Maria  Walpole"  (No.  21),  who  in  England  disputed  the 
prize  of  beauty  with  the  lovely,  if  not  very  intellectual,  Misses 
Gunning.  What,  we  wonder,  would  have  been  the  considered 
opinion  of  Maria,  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  Miss  Coussmaker, 
Mrs.  Johnson,  Mrs.  Gwyn,  and  the  Young  Woman  of  Haarlem 


INTRODUCTION 

regarding  the  inordinately  proud,  overbearing  and  licentious 
Maria  Luisa?  A  queen,  forsooth,  in  name  alone.  We  feel 
sure  that  the  five  ladies  would  have  made  the  Italian-Span- 
ish Regent  conscious  of  her  own  inferiority.  How  ill  at 
ease  also  would  the  pampered  "Costillares"  (No.  23)  have 
felt  if  actually  placed  in  life,  as  here  in  art,  in  the  presence  of 
such  stately  dames !  Although  Goya  often  scamped  his  work, 
there  is  no  such  shortcoming  in  his  portrait  of  "The  Toreador." 
In  this  strange  personality  the  painter  would  be  deeply  inter- 
ested, seeing  that  he  had  himself  joined  a  ciiadrilla  of  bull- 
fighters and  in  their  company  travelled  from  town  to  town  to 
earn  his  passage  money  to  Italy. 

The  virility,  restlessness,  and  occasional  buffoonery  of  Goya 
give  the  go-by  to  Fortuny's  inert  and  self-satisfied  "Arab 
Guard"  (No.  61).  From  him  we  pass  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Raimundo  de  Madrazo,  who  was  probably  at  the  highest 
point  of  his  professional  activity  when,  in  1902,  he  gave  us 
the  companion  portraits  of  "Mr.  Taft"  (No.  74)  and  "Mrs. 
Taft"  (No.  73).  He,  moreover,  has  preserved  to  us,  but 
working  withal  under  difficulties,  something  of  the  facial  ap- 
pearance of  "Mr.  Sinton"  (No.  42)  and  "Mrs.  Sinton"  (No. 
43).  If  in  the  "Courtyard  in  Toledo"  (No.  80)  by  Ricardo, 
a  brother  of  Raimundo  de  Madrazo,  we  breathe  something  of 
the  atmosphere  we  may  still  inhale  in  one  of  the  oldest  cities 
of  western  Europe,  dowered  as  it  is  with  successive  civiliza- 
tions, we  find  in  Sorolla  an  essentially  modern  standpoint.  As 
"the  painter  of  sunlight"  he  has  set  down  on  canvas,  evidently 
with  much  self-satisfaction  and  resulting  success,  the  features 
as  well  as  the  character  of  "Former  President  Taft"  (No.  33 ) . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft  may  be  congratulated  on  having  had 
the  foresight  to  include  both  modern  and  ancient  examples  of 
the  painter's  art,  and  that  not  merely  from  the  hand  of  for- 
eigners, but  in  a  limited  degree  by  American,  and  even  local, 
artists.  We  can  thus  range  from  the  Twenty-seventh  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  "George  Washington"  (No.  83). 

[  XXIII] 


INTRODUCTION 


It  is  both  fortunate  and  fitting  that  these  two  different  types  of 
mankind  should  meet  our  gaze  within  these  walls.  Again,  it 
is  matter  for  satisfaction  that  he  who  was  "first  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen"  should  here  be  limned  by  Charles  Willson 
Peale,  whose  portraits  are  always  real  and  whose  likenesses 
are  always  true.  Yet,  paradoxical  as  it  may  sound,  his  best 
known  pictures  are  his  poorest.  Born  in  1741  and  going  in 
December,  1767 — the  eve  of  the  foundation  of  the  Royal 
Academy — to  London  to  work  in  the  studio  of  West,  Peale 
would  meet  several  of  the  great  English  painters.  He  may 
even  have  seen  some  of  Reynolds's  sitters  trip  up  his  stair- 
case in  Leicester  Fields,  wearing  their  furbelows  and  fancy 
farthingales.  Peale,  the  exact  contemporary  of  Goya,  on  one 
occasion  painted  Washington  "in  a  room  so  small  and  poorly 
lighted  that,  standing  by  the  window,  he  was  forced  to  ask  the 
distinguished  model  to  sit  on  the  bed."  But  our  portrait  is  no 
"bedroom"  picture.  Nor  does  it  show  the  broad  blue  ribbon 
which  Washington  prescribed  for  himself  in  July,  1775,  to 
designate  the  Commander-in-chief. 

The  latest,  if  not  the  last,  artist  to  have  a  work  included  in 
the  house  in  Pike  Street  was  born  across  the  Ohio  from  Cin- 
cinnati. Seeing  that  Frank  Duveneck  was  so  long  instructor 
to  the  Art  Academy  of  Cincinnati,  and  that  Mr.  Taft  is  the 
President  of  the  adjoining  Museum,  we  may  appositely  recall 
that  Mr.  David  Sinton  (No.  42)  gave  a  sum  of  money 
towards  the  erection  of  a  separate  building  for  the  Art  Acad- 
emy. It  is  pleasant  to  reflect  that  Duveneck's  "Cobbler's  Ap- 
prentice" (No.  77 )  was  purchased  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft  a  few 
months  before  the  artist's  death.  Subsequently  it  gave  them 
pleasure  to  acquire  his  sketch  of  a  "Young  Girl"  also. 


{b)  The  Landscapes 

The  modern  tendency  is  to  pay  excessive  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject of  a  picture,  at  the  expense  of  its  aesthetic  treatment.  In 
the  brief  summary  that  we  can  give  to  the  outstanding  features 

[xxiv:! 


■4 


INTRODUCTION 

of  this  collection,  it  has  seemed  desirable  to  the  present  writer 
to  review  (a)  the  Portraits  and  Figure  Subjects  together,  but 
to  keep  (b)  the  Landscapes  apart.  These  we  will  link  up  in 
their  separate,  but  dependent,  schools  and  groups.  The  word 
"school,"  for  our  purpose,  denotes  all  the  painters  of  a  given 
country,  without  regard  to  any  subdivision  of  style  or  indi- 
vidual characteristics.  We  shall  not  forget  that  the  illusive 
atmospheric  effect  in  landscape  is  wholly  due  to  the  law  of 
simultaneous  contrast  of  colour.  Moreover,  the  most  search- 
ing and  most  perfect  pair  of  eyes  in  the  world  can  see  but  a 
fraction  of  the  colours  that  we  know  to  exist  in  nature.  Per- 
haps for  some  such  reason  landscape  painting  did  not  make  its 
appearance  until  very  late  in  Christian  art,  and  is  the  youngest 
of  all  the  arts.  To  this  day  water-colour  painting  in  England 
is  unsurpassed.  The  true  landscape  painter  has  always  had 
recourse  to  the  Old  Masters  for  study,  but  not  for  imitation. 
For  mere  copying  is  unintelligent,  and  the  sign  of  the  small- 
minded  person.  The  geographical  and  geological  conditions 
of  each  country  find  a  reflex  in  its  art. 

The  "Landscape  with  Figures"  (No.  40)  by  A.  van  der 
Neer  serves  to  recall  the  fact  that  Holland  is  largely  a  country 
redeemed  from  its  ever-threatening  enemy,  the  sea ;  so  that  the 
dark  waters  and  low  banks  of  his  canal  scenes  indicate,  to  the 
eye  of  him  who  would  see,  the  soft,  slimy  soil  of  the  Nether- 
lands, washed  gradually  away  towards  the  sea.  To  Jacob  van 
Ruisdael  we  turn  for  a  penetrating  interpretation  of  landscape 
and  a  scrupulous  consultation  of  nature.  In  his  "View  on  a 
High  Road"  (No.  78)  we  see  him  inspired  by  the  melancholy 
aspects  of  scenery  and  the  ruins  that  he  found  ready  to  his 
hand,  perhaps  near  Brederode  or  along  the  Overveen  dunes. 

If  the  active  forces  of  nature  govern  all  forms  and  colour- 
harmonies,  we  shall  naturally  look  to  Hobbema's  "Landscape 
with  Cattle  and  Figures"  (No.  20),  one  of  the  main  treasures 
of  this  collection,  to  bear  out  our  contention.  In  it  the  Cus- 
toms Inspector  and  Painter,  in  a  day  when  landscape  painting 


INTRODUCTION 

was  ill  remunerated,  marked  out  the  most  trifling  details  by 
his  incisive,  if  nervous,  touch.  He  yet  managed  to  impart 
quality  to  the  diversity  of  form  and  the  delicate  shades  which 
the  distance  lends  to  the  gradually  receding  planes.  Truly  he 
has  given  us,  without  hesitation  and  without  fatigue,  "un  mag- 
nifique  paysage,"  as  it  was  justly  held  to  be  while  in  the  Secre- 
tan  Collection.  This  canvas  has  had  a  strange  amount  of 
travelling,  having  been  first  in  Holland,  later  in  Italy,  subse- 
quently to  France,  and  to  England  before  finding  its  home  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  While  in  the  possession  of  M.  Secre- 
tan,  it  had  as  a  near  neighbour  Decamps'  "The  Slinger" 
(No.  29).  To  some  it  may  seem  a  subject  for  comment  that, 
in  so  representative  an  assembly  of  modern  landscapes,  they  do 
not  find  any  example  of  the  art  of  "Old"  Crome.  For  they 
may  recall  his  memorable  utterance:  "Hobbema,  my  dear 
Hobbema,  how  I  have  loved  you!"  Again,  we  may  recall  the 
absence  of  any  work  by  Richard  Wilson,  who,  according  to 
Constable,  was  "one  of  those  appointed  to  show  the  world  the 
hidden  stores  and  beauties  of  nature." 

Although  we  cannot  in  these  rooms  scan  one  of  those  easel- 
paintings  of  pastoral  life  that  have  led  some  to  describe  Gains- 
borough— somewhat  extravagantly,  we  must  admit — as  "the 
father  of  landscape  painting,"  he  had  from  his  earliest  days 
experimented  with  his  materials  in  the  open  air  in  his  efforts 
to  convey  to  canvas  the  mood  exerted  in  him  by  nature.  In- 
deed, on  one  of  his  earliest  pictorial  excursions  a  lady,  soon  to 
be  his  wife,  entered  unexpectedly  upon  the  scene  and  was  at 
once  admitted  into  the  landscape  and  the  feelings  of  the  artist. 
Affected  at  first  by  the  methods  of  Wynants  and  other  Dutch 
exemplars,  he  gradually  got  away  from  the  formative  influ- 
ences of  Holland,  until,  near  the  end,  he  sweeps  his  brush 
across  the  canvas  with  a  minimum  of  effort.  With  a  hand  as 
light  as  the  sweep  of  a  cloud  and  as  swift  as  the  dart  of  a  sun- 
beam, he  practised  the  maniere  hachee,  of  which  we  may  judge 
in  the  setting  of  the  "Tomkinson  Boys"  (No.  i).  The  back- 
ground is  mellow,  elevating  and  sparkling;  it  acts  not  merely 

[xxvi;] 


INTRODUCTION 

as  a  foil  to  the  figures  of  the  boys,  but  as  an  indication  of  their 
own  budding  existence  and  future  freedom.  Fixity  of  tenure  and 
the  preservation  of  tradition,  which  pervade  the  nobleman's 
enclosed  park  in  England,  here  dominate  the  calm,  the  reserve, 
the  dignity  of  these  two  well-bred  boys.   All  is  atune. 

How  different  from  the  standpoint  of  Gainsborough  is  that 
of  Turner,  when  we  contemplate  his  oil  painting  of  "The 
Trout  Stream"  (No.  26),  of  1807  !  The  lad  who  had  begun 
as  an  architectural,  and  even  topographical,  draughtsman  had 
now  been  practising  in  oil  less  than  a  decade.  How  much 
more  intimate  is  the  mood  of  his  drawing  of  "Chamonix" 
(No.  89),  of  the  same  year!  Yet  before  achieving  such  suc- 
cess, he  had  tested  the  tinted  drawings  of  his  predecessors  and 
had  travelled  considerably.  It  was  only  five  years  since  he  had 
gone  on  his  first  foreign  tour  and  been  elected  a  Royal  Acade- 
mician. Ever  studying  the  works  of  his  devanciers  in  all 
periods  and  in  all  mediums,  and  become  Professor  of  Perspec- 
tive to  the  Academy,  he  delighted  to  record  the  fact,  in  1809, 
on  his  water-colour  of  "The  Lake  of  Brienz"  (No.  87).  Ever 
communing  with  nature  and  working  prodigiously,  he  shows  us 
something  of  this  added  power  in  his  "Folkestone"  of  1823. 
With  his  dream  visions  enhanced  by  foreign  travel,  he  two 
years  later  reveals  for  us  "Old  London  Bridge"  (No.  7),  not 
noting  it  down  as  it  was  in  fact,  but  as  it  uncovered  itself  to 
his  poetic  eye.  It  carries  the  workaday  figures  of  a  humdrum 
existence,  but  they  are  all  resplendent  in  their  prismatic  attire. 
The  vast  proportion  of  those  of  all  nations  who  have  paced 
across  London  Bridge  have  not  always  imagined  it,  with 
Turner,  a  place  of  kaleidoscopic,  indeterminate  uneventful- 
ness,  but  the  prosaic  scene  of  bustle,  business  and  dispeace. 
Now  we  see  him  affect  the  vignette  in  his  small  but  precious 
water-colour  of  "The  Lake  of  Nemi"  (No.  93 ) ,  of  which,  with 
its  classical  setting  and  deep  blue  waters,  he  delighted,  like 
Corot  and  others,  to  record  a  fleeting  memory.  Another  vign- 
ette, a  sheer  stenographic  transcript  of  a  diversified  scene — as 
is  always  the  case  on  a  frontier — is  his  drawing  of  "Johnnie 

C  XXVII 3 


INTRODUCTION 

Armstrong's  Tower"  (No.  86),  of  1 830-1 832;  it  was  long 
prized  by  Munro,  of  Novar.  The  work  also  of  a  tourist,  but 
of  one  imbued  with  deep  poetic  insight,  as  distinct  from  the 
ordinary  visibility  of  the  average  traveller,  is  his  "Jedburgh 
Abbey"  (No.  90),  that  we  may  allocate  to  1831.  Those  who 
have  visited  the  actual  site  may,  confronted  with  this  water- 
colour,  find  a  difficulty  in  recognizing  the  scene.  But  the 
Muse  leads  our  painter  onward  and  upward,  and  where  could 
he  find,  whether  designedly  or  by  chance,  a  subject  more  per- 
fectly suited  to  his  pictorial  purposes  than  the  fantastic  "St. 
Michael's  Mount"  (No.  94) ,  of  1 830-1 835  ?  It  was  in  fact  one 
of  Munro's  treasures  at  Novar,  where  also  once  hung  Reynolds's 
"Mary  Robinson"  (No.  35).  Remarkable,  is  it  not,  that 
associates  in  former  collections  seem  to  hang  together  and, 
banishing  all  limitations  of  time  and  space,  reassemble  them- 
selves within  these  hospitable  walls ! 

But  what  are  we  to  say  of  the  "Rape  of  Europa"  of  1836? 
The  fate  of  the  lady  was  abhorrent  and  the  legend  sufficiently 
unmanageable  for  your  average  professional,  who,  in  his 
caution,  would  pass  the  incident  by  untouched.  Not  so  Turner. 
He  lavishes  the  whole  shimmer  of  his  aquamarine  and  rose- 
tinted  firmament  on  the  unfolding  of  the  myth,  to  evolve  there- 
from one  of  his  finest  creations.  This  is  high  praise,  indeed, 
even  from  one  who  may  have  spent  years  of  reverent  study 
and  abasement  before  his  countless  works  in  the  English  na- 
tional collections.  Is  it  by  chance  that  the  colour  of  the  blue 
hawthorn  jar,  placed  on  a  table  beneath  the  picture,  seems  to 
soar  upward  and  pass  through  the  commingling  red  and  salmon 
tones  of  Europa's  embodiment  into  the  azure  blue  beyond? 
As  we  shall  see  for  ourselves,  the  colour  scheme  in  the  "Eu- 
ropa" is  the  echo  of  that  in  the  drawing  of  "Thun"  (No.  88). 

Turner  had  by  now  studied  "everybody"  from  Titian  to 
Poussin,  from  Van  Goyen  to  Richard  Wilson.  From  strength 
to  strength  he  proceeds,  even  though  his  physical  self  was 
beginning  to  show  signs  of  the  frailty  of  human  existence  and 
the  end  of  human  toil.    It  is  now  that  we  may  look  upon  his 

C  XXVIII ;] 


INTRODUCTION 

^'Thun."  The  brevity  of  the  title  of  this  poem  of  1842  is 
significant.  How  inspiring  this  scene  was  to  him,  with  its 
clear-cut  terrace  dotted  with  gay  costumes,  its  magnificent 
distance  across  the  resounding  plain,  its  vanishing  mists  and 
mountain  range,  its  all-embracing,  eternal  clouds !  This  great 
beyond,  with  its  unapproachable  purity  and  transcendent  lam- 
bency, as  if  by  some  divine  ordinance,  entrances  us.  And  was 
not  this  the  last  work  acquired  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft  from  Mr. 
Fowles,  whose  end  was  set  in  tragedy  and  gloom?  We  may 
well  recall  that  Turner  was  affected  by  the  death  of  Wilkie  as 
some  have  been  by  that  of  Mr.  Fowles.  They  were  both  con- 
sumed by  the  sea,  and  Turner's  "Peace:  Burial  of  Wilkie,"  as 
well  as  this  drawing  of  '^Thun,"  belong  to  the  same  year — 
1842.  In  each  of  these  works  there  is  a  cortege  of  harmonies 
in  light,  line  and  colour — that  strange  magic  of  art.  Such  were 
Turner's  mediums  for  expressing  his  "Fallacies  of  Hope." 

Our  comments  on  the  three  oils  and  nine  water-colours  by 
Turner  are  made  in  the  strict  chronological  order  of  their 
appearance.  But  there  remains  one  more,  "The  Great  Whale" 
(No.  95).  It  is  strange  that  we  here  have  a  bustling  scene  of 
spectators  on  the  shore,  with  rocks  ahead  in  the  distance  and 
a  city  dimly  seen  in  the  bay  beyond.  Still  this  concerted 
energy,  this  human  struggle  is  of  no  avail:  the  sea  will  swallow 
up  its  victim.  And  this  is  the  last  in  the  "hang"  of  our 
pictures. 

We  find  ourselves  once  more  on  terra  firma,  when  we  com- 
ment on  the  very  different  point  of  view  of  Constable.  Con- 
stable's gift  to  England,  to  France  and  to  the  United  States 
was  a  means  to  transmit  his  true,  unalloyed  love  of  the 
dewy  freshness  of  nature.  Herein  he  defied  the  studio  rulings 
of  "the  brown  school."  Of  course,  his  persistent  attempts  to 
convert  his  contemporaries  to  the  wisdom  of  painting  the  fleet- 
ing effects  of  cloud  and  sunshine,  and  so  opposing  the  pseudo- 
aesthetics  of  his  elders,  penalized  his  efforts  for  many  years. 
His  "Hay  W^ain"  (now  by  chance,  and  not  as  the  result  of 

[XXIX] 


INTRODUCTION 

concerted  national  aim,  in  the  English  National  Gallery)  is 
signed  and  dated  1821.  To  exactly  that  moment  belongs  our 
"Dedham  Mill"  (No.  41).  It  was  by  the  exhibition  of  the 
"Hay  Wain"  in  Paris,  in  1824,  that  the  new  age  of  landscape 
painting  was  ushered  in.  For  that  canvas  is  to-day  universally 
accepted  as  the  point  de  depart  of  the  Barbizon  School.  The 
sun  in  our  small  canvas,  together  with  the  mill,  the  trees  and 
the  sky,  is  reflected  in  the  clear  water  of  our  pellucid  stream. 
We  have  here  the  real  atmosphere  of  agricultural  life  in  rural 
England  a  century  ago.  Yes,  and  you  may  go  to-day  to  East 
Bergholt  and  Dedham,  and  you  may  recognize  the  individual 
aspects  of  the  scenery,  the  mill,  the  church  tower,  the  lock,  the 
corn-field — all  published  by  Constable  to  the  world — but  you 
will  find  in  the  end  that  he  was  no  advocate  of  topographical 
exactitude  in  painting.  He  has  in  his  canvases  placed  his  data 
in  any  order  he  fancied,  or  he  has  omitted  them  altogether. 
Such  is  your  natural  painter.  There  is  another  strange  reunion 
here,  for  the  Constable  (No.  41 )  and  the  "Michielsz  de  Wael" 
(No.  17)  were  once  in  the  Sanderson  Collection. 

The  history  of  French  landscape  painting  owes  its  origin, 
doubtless,  to  such  giants  as  Pol  de  Limborch,  the  Van  Eycks 
and  Fouquet.  We  have  not  the  space  to  follow  it  down 
through  Italian  influences,  the  complete  harmonies  of  Poussin, 
or  the  effectful  falsehoods  of  Claude.  In  our  self-denial,  and 
without  seeking  "to  gild  the  pale  stream  with  heavenly  al- 
chemy," we  may  pass  over  the  earlier  centuries.  For  our 
purposes  Decamps  was  a  nineteenth-century  pioneer.  We  have 
already  noted  his  success — usually  met  with  in  simple  subjects 
and  small  canvases — in  "The  Slinger"  (No.  29).  Corot's 
development  was  gradual,  but  he  found  something  to  learn 
wherever  he  went,  and  he  strayed  far  afield.  In  his  "Soir" 
(No.  16)  we  have  a  romantic  sylvan  scene  wherein  nymphs 
dance  before  decorating  a  terminal  figure  of  Pan.  Already 
he  had,  in  1 855-1 860,  mastered  the  problems  of  technique  and 
learned  to  envelop  his  figures  with  light.    Perhaps  ten  years 

[xxx] 


INTRODUCTION 

later  came  his  "At  Ville  d'Avray"  (No.  37)  and  "The  Brook" 
(No.  39)  ;  they  here  hang  as  a  pair,  as  they  once  did  in  the 
A.  de  St.  Albin  Collection.  Between  1865  and  1870  he  must 
have  committed  to  canvas  his  exquisite  "Souvenir  de  Riva" 
(No.  38),  a  scene  in  the  Italian  Tyrol  which  is  remarkable  for 
its  fine  treatment  of  sky  and  the  subtle  rendering  of  evening 
light.  To  the  same  moment  must  belong  the  "Environs  de 
Paris"  (No.  44)  ;  in  it  we  look  down  from  the  misty  heights 
of  Ville  d'Avray — his  home  in  late  years  and  so  his  own  special 
territory — on  to  the  distant,  wide-spreading  valley  of  the  sinu- 
ous and  unfolding  Seine.  All  Corot's  canvases  are  conspicu- 
ous for  rhythm  and  symmetry  of  arrangement.  Truly  his 
talent  was  in  harmony  with  his  character. 

To  the  novice  the  blend  of  colour  in  Diaz's  "Oriental  Chil- 
dren" (No.  49)  may  occasion  some  surprise,  but  he  was  not 
of  French  stock.  In  his  "Early  Autumn:  Forest  of  Fontaine- 
bleau"  (No.  51),  of  1870,  the  peasant  women  are  gaily 
dressed,  in  spite  of  their  humble  task  of  stick-gathering,  and 
give  the  desired  note  to  the  large  oak  trees  which  close  in  the 
glade.  This  affords  us  another  instance  of  pictures  coming 
together  again  after  an  interval;  for  it  and  Corot's  "Le  Soir" 
(No.  16),  painted  a  decade  or  so  earlier,  were  once  together 
in  the  Coats  Collection.  The  experiences  of  a  critic  among 
pictures  are,  indeed,  varied. 

At  least  one  leading  American  writer  has  admitted  that 
"there  could  hardly  have  been  a  Barbizon  School,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  iconoclasts  on  the  other  side  of  the  English  Chan- 
nel"; and  when  we  approach  the  art  of  Dupre,  we  are  con- 
scious of.  this  Barbizon  painter's  having  been  influenced  by 
Constable  and  resident  for  a  time  in  England.  Although  apt 
to  indulge  in  needless  ruggedness,  he  here  sets  out  his  two 
signed  canvases  of  "I^andscape  with  Cattle"  (No.  48  and  No. 
54)  with  grandeur  and  poetry. 

Daubigny,  "the  poet  of  the  river,"  delighted  especially  in 
jotting  down  his  observations  of  the  Oise — which  the  defiling 
Huns  have  crossed  and  had  finally  to  recross  in  recent  times — 


INTRODUCTION 


with  its  little  islands  and  tall  poplar  trees.  His  fine  "River 
Scene"  (No.  50),  of  1861,  was  years  ago  in  the  famous 
Alexander  Young  Collection.  His  "Evening  on  the  Oise" 
(No.  46),  two  years  later  in  date,  is  one  of  the  largest  land- 
scapes in  the  Drawing-room,  and  his  "Evening  Solitude"  (No. 
60),  one  of  the  smallest.  All  show  that  he  possessed  a  fully 
developed  sense  of  both  the  picturesque  and  the  pictorial. 

Rousseau,  who  felt  more  solitary  in  the  city  than  in  the 
country,  loved  to  paint  the  gloomy  solitude  of  the  gorges  of 
Apremont,  about  half-way  between  Fontainebleau  and  Barbi- 
zon;  and  two  such  scenes  (No.  62  and  No.  57)  are  here.  His 
gentle  disposition  is  well  brought  out  by  his  "La  Mare  a  Dag- 
nan"  (No.  3),  a  late  work.  One  who  has  studied  his  art  in 
numerous  examples  will  realize  that  he  never  dated  his  pic- 
tures; and,  as  he  often  retouched  them  at  different  periods,  it 
is  difficult  to  date  them  precisely.  This  one  was,  in  fact,  in- 
cluded in  the  sale  held  shortly  after  his  death,  and  the  cata- 
logue rightly  tells  us  that  it  is  "presque  termine."  Fortunately 
he  had  not  laboured  long  on  this  work,  and  so  impaired  his 
own  spontaneity  and  freshness.  At  times  he  did  that,  and, 
becoming  tired,  showed  himself  incapable  of  sound  judgment. 

It  was  the  American  artist  William  Morris  Hunt  who  first 
drew  the  attention  of  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  of  Boston,  to  the  high 
claims  of  Millet  to  the  wide-spread  recognition  which  France 
long  disdained  to  accord  her  illustrious  but  retiring  son.  Hunt 
also  maintained  that  it  was  he  who  "gave  Millet  the  first  hun- 
dred-dollar bill  he  ever  owned."  But  with  Millet,  in  regard 
to  landscape,  we  have  no  special  concern  in  Pike  Street;  we 
have  already  dealt  with  his  two  figure-pieces. 

The  art  of  Troyon  is  realistic  in  its  essence,  and  imparts  a 
brilliancy  to  any  gallery.  It  is  as  an  animal  painter  that  he 
shone  with  particular  effect,  while,  being  a  rapid  executant,  he 
painted  a  medium-sized  picture  in  a  single  day.  Thus,  unlike 
some  of  his  countrymen,  he  died  in  affluence.  From  his  large 
"Vaches  a  I'Abreuvoir"  (No.  45)  it  is  obvious  that  he  knew 
how  to  render  cattle  in,  and  of,  his  landscape.   Not  all  animal 

XXXII  ] 


INTRODUCTION 


painters  have  had  that  gift.  All  these  men  were  born  before 
1820,  and  so  lead  in  the  "School  of  1830." 

There  remain  Ziem,  who  painted  the  popular  aspects  of 
Venice  (No.  30  and  No.  32),  and  Cazin,  who  visited  the 
United  States.  But  Cazin's  "Landscape"  (No.  72)  was  not 
painted  here.  We  shall  here  look  in  vain  for  Pissaro,  Sisley, 
Manet  and  others  who  worked  on  the  principle  that  light  is 
essentially  prismatic.  The  discovery  is  sound  in  principle,  but 
difficult  of  aesthetic  realization.  And  do  the  Luminarists,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  ordinary  cultivated  eye,  render  the 
effect  of  nature  by  the  aid  of  dots,  dashes  and  cross-hatched 
strokes  of  pure  colour? 

Coming  nearer  to  our  own  day,  we  can  see  how  natural  it 
was  that  English  and  Scottish  collectors  taught  Holland,  after 
its  two  hundred  years  of  decadence,  the  worth  of  her  modern 
men.  Thus,  by  way  of  the  Norwich  School  (not  represented  in 
this  collection) ,  the  example  of  Constable,  and  the  genius  of  the 
men  of  Barbizon  we  reach  The  Hague.  Jacob  Maris's  earliest 
attempts  were  neat, — and  "neat"  is  a  terrible  word  in  regard 
to  painting!  But  by  the  time  he  settled  in  Paris,  the  school  of 
Barbizon  was  beginning  to  meet  with  recognition.  Did  not 
Millet  at  last  possess  a  house  of  his  own,  and  was  not  Rousseau 
a  friend  to  both  him  and  Maris?  Having  developed  his  sense 
of  colour  and  his  feeling  for  design,  Jacob  Maris  has  given  us 
a  "Dutch  Town"  (No.  66)  and  a  "View  of  a  Dutch  Town" 
(No.  69).  In  his  fine  "Rotterdam"  (No.  82)  our  eye,  after 
surveying  the  typically  Dutch  scene,  returns  to  the  man  in  the 
rowboat  and  the  flickering  light  on  the  water.  How  true  was 
his  favourite  utterance:  "I  think  in  my  material"!  Willem 
Maris,  like  his  brothers,  provides  us  with  powerful  harmonies 
of  colour  in  his  "Cattle  in  the  Meadows"  (No.  67),  and  a 
certain  brightness  is  everywhere  apparent  in  his  "Ducks" 
(No.  2).  With  Matthew's  "Boy  with  a  Hoop"  (No.  64)  we 
have  dealt  above. 

A  native  of  Haarlem  who  had  settled  at  The  Hague, 

C  XXXIII ;] 


INTRODUCTION 

Mauve  had  a  great  admiration  for  Millet,  who,  however,  had 
a  deeper  soul.  But  he  maintained  to  the  end  of  his  delicate 
life  that,  but  for  the  influence  of  Jacob  Maris,  he  would  have 
remained  a  mere  machine.  In  his  "Cattle  Grazing"  (No.  4) 
the  varied  hues  of  the  farmer's  rough  attire  are  in  tune  with 
his  occupation  and  natural  setting.  His  talent  was  lyrical,  and 
he  loved  the  tender  gray  haze  that  hangs  over  the  fields  on 
still  days,  as  in  his  "Changing  Pasture"  (No.  70) .  A  personal 
interpretation  of  life  and  nature  betokens  Weissenbruch's 
"Gray  Day  in  Holland"  (No.  71),  the  only  dated  modern 
Dutch  landscape  in  this  collection.  He  loved  to  indicate  the 
volume  of  sluggish  water  in  a  canal,  and  like  Constable  rev- 
elled in  "top-coat  weather."    Rain  never  kept  him  in  the  house. 

"Within  these  wooden  walls"  we  shall  not  find  a  varied 
selection  of  American  landscape  paintings.  Farny's  "Hill 
behind  the  School-house"  (No.  91 )  may  be  a  fairly  early  work 
in  this  medium.  His  "Apaches  are  Out!"  (No.  92),  of  1890, 
recalls  that  facilities  were  afforded  him,  by  those  engaged  on 
military  expeditions,  to  study  the  Indian  at  closer  quarters  than 
would  otherwise  have  been  politic.  A  certain  originality  and 
drollery,  and  a  strange  contrast  of  civilizations  are  afforded  by 
the  "Song  of  the  Talking  Wire"  (No.  79),  of  1904. 

The  beginnings  of  art  trace  back  to  Giotto  (1266-1337) 
in  Italy,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  last  of  our  landscapes 
should  prove  to  be  a  "View  of  the  Ponte  Vecchio,  Florence" 
(No.  85),  by  that  many-sided  artist  Chase.  Do  we  not  now 
realize  that  the  face  of  nature  and  the  environment  of  man  de- 
termine the  characteristics  of  any  national  school  of  painting? 


C  XXXIV  3 


* 


EXPLANATORY  REMARKS 

In  the  description  of  the  pictures  the  terms  right  and  left  are 
used  in  reference  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  spectator,  unless 
the  context  obviously  implies  the  contrary. 

The  surface  measurements  are  given  in  inches  as  well  as  in 
metres,  the  height  preceding  the  width  or  length. 


THE  RED  ROOM 


THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A. 

English  School;  I'j2j-lj88 


AINSBOROUGH  was  one  of  a  large  family,  of  which 


at  least  two  members  showed  marked  ability  in  me- 


chanics.  He  was,  traditionally  at  least,  "a  confirmed 
painter  at  the  age  of  twelve."  Having  studied  in  London,  he 
settled  at  Ipswich  about  1741.  His  first  substantial  success  was 
achieved  at  Bath,  where  between  1760  and  1774  he  enjoyed 
a  great  vogue.  Nominated  by  George  III,  one  of  the  original 
Thirty-six  Academicians  on  the  foundation  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy in  1768,  he  exhibited  there  almost  yearly  until  1783,  when 
he  had  a  misunderstanding  with  those  members  who  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  hanging  of  his  pictures.  In  consequence,  he  in 
that  year  contributed  for  the  last  time.  Like  his  contempo- 
raries, he  very  rarely  placed  his  name  or  his  initials  on  his  can- 
vases. Some  have  extravagantly  claimed  him  as  "the  father 
of  modern  landscape  art."  Still,  in  his  least  conventional 
mood,  he  was  the  herald  of  the  modern  conception  of  land- 
scape painting.  He  never  left  England. 

No.  I  The  Portraits  of  William  Tomkinson  (after- 
wards Wettenhall)  and  his  Cousin,  Edward 
Tomkinson  {''The  Tomkinson  Boys''), 

Two  full-length  figures,  in  a  landscape.  In  the  foreground, 
and  rather  to  the  right,  William  is  seated  on  a  bank;  on  it  he 
has  placed  his  black  hat  by  his  side.  He  has  dark  dishevelled 
hair,  which  falls  upon  his  shoulders  and  over  his  forehead. 
Turned  three  quarters  to  the  left,  he  gazes  at  some  distant 


[3  ] 


THE  RED  ROOM 

object.  He  wears  a  red  tail-coat  with  gold  buttons,  white  vest 
and  lace  collar,  black  knee-breeches,  white  stockings,  and  black 
shoes  with  steel  buckles.  In  his  right  hand,  which  rests  on  his 
leg,  he  lightly  holds  a  book  that  is  kept  half  open  by  his  fore- 
finger. In  his  left  hand  he  grasps  a  thin,  roughly  cut  stick.  His 
right  foot  is  crossed  over  the  left. 

More  in  the  centre  of  the  composition,  and  a  little  further 
back,  stands  his  cousin  Edward,  who  has  long  fair  hair  and 
blue  eyes.  He  wears  a  dark  blue  swallow-tail  coat  with  red 
collar,  white  vest,  light  yellow  breeches,  white  stockings  and 
black  shoes  with  buckles.  His  right  arm  rests  on  his  hip,  and 
he  holds  his  black  cap  against  his  side.  He  rests  his  left  arm 
on  the  shoulder  of  his  cousin.  The  background  is  formed  of 
trees  which  are  in  full  foliage,  and  characteristically  feathery 
in  the  Gainsborough  manner.  The  ground  rises  slightly  on  the 
right;  in  the  left  distance  is  open  country. 

Canvas,  82  inches  by  585^  inches.  (2.08  x  1.48) 

Painted  in  1784. 

William  Tomkinson,  afterwards  Wettenhall^  of  Hankelow,  here  repre- 
sented, was  born  at  Manchester,  October  19,  1772.  He  was  the  elder 
son  of  Edward  Tomkinson  of  Bostock,  and  subsequently  of  Hankelow, 
who  was  born  at  Nantwich,  September  21,  1743,  and  who,  by  devise  of 
the  will  of  Nathaniel  Wettenhall  (born  1701),  assumed  the  name  of 
Wettenhall  in  1798.    That  Edward  Tomkinson  inherited  the  estates  of 

1  The  name  was  variously  spelt  at  different  times.  Thus  we  read  in  43 
Henry  III  and  in  25  Henry  VI  of  John  de  Wetenhale,  while  we  find  John  de 
Wetnale  in  10  Henry  V.  It  is  said  to  have  been  anciently  Wetnall.  The  arms 
of  Wettenhall  of  Hankelow  were:  Vert,  a  cross  engrailed  Ermine.  Crest:  an 
Antelope's  head  Argent;  attired  Gules,  issuing  from  a  ducal  coronet  of  the 
Second. 

The  family  pedigree,  from  the  records  of  the  College  of  Heralds,  is  given 
at  length  in  Ormerod's  "History  of  the  County  Palatine  and  City  of  Chester," 
1882,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  480.  See  also  Ormerod:  "Cheshire,"  1819,  Vol.  II,  p.  106. 
And  see  James  Hall:  "History  of  Nantwich,"  1883,  pp.  461-466. 

The  Wettenhalls  of  Rutlandshire  in  the  XVI  century  traced  back  to  John 
Wettenhall  of  Nantwich  in  Comchester,  23  Henry  VI.  The  pedigree  is  given  in 
the  Harleian  Society's  publication:  "County  of  Rutland,"  1870,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  28. 

For  the  families  of  Wetnall  of  Coppenhall,  vulgo  Copnall,  Wetnall  of  Chol- 
moston,  alias  Chomston,  as  well  as  Wetnall  of  Nantwich,  see  Harleian  So- 
ciety's publication:  "Visitation  of  Cheshire,"  1882,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  244-246. 

1:4] 


THE  RED  ROOM 


Bostock  from  his  cousin  William  Tomkinson  ( 1 723-1 770)  The  father 
of  the  said  Edward  Tomkinson  (and  so  the  grandfather  of  the  boy 
William  Tomkinson,  here  painted)   was  James  Tomkinson  (1711- 


The  wife  of  the  said  Edward  Tomkinson  (and  the  mother  of  William 
Tomkinson,  the  dark  boy  in  the  picture)  was  Sarah,  daughter  and  heiress 
of  James  Marsden;  she  was  born  in  August,  1753,  married  January  7, 
1772,  and  died  February  16,  1776,  and  was  buried  at  Davenham.  She 
had  a  younger  son,  w^ho  was  born  in  1773  but  died  the  year  following. 

William  Tomkinson,  the  boy  seated  on  the  right  in  the  present  group, 
married  Frances,  daughter  of  John  Nesham,  of  Houghton-le-Spring, 
County  Durham,  on  November  4,  1797;  by  her  he  had  five  sons:  Wil- 
liam, William  Marsden,  Edward,  John  and  James;  and  four  daughters: 
Sarah,  Frances,  Caroline  and  Catherine.  His  uncle  Henry  (1741- 
1822),  of  Dorfold,  had  by  his  wife  Anne,  daughter  and  heiress  of  John 
Darlington,  of  Aston,  Esq.,  four  sons  and  three  daughters.   The  eldest 

2  On  the  south  side  of  the  chancel  of  Davenham  Church  is  a  large  pyramidal 
mural  monument  to  him,  erected  in  1771. 

3  This  James  Tomkinson,  the  first  of  the  family  to  settle  in  Nantwich,  was 
an  eminent  attorney  and  solicitor.  By  his  extensive  practice  and  parsimonious 
habits  he  amassed  a  large  fortune,  and  in  1754  purchased  the  Dorfold  estate 
and  went  to  reside  at  the  Hall.  His  clerk  was  Lloyd  Kenyon,  afterwards  first 
Lord  Kenyon,  chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  "While  Mr.  Kenyon 
was  a  clerk,"  says  W.  Beamont  in  his  "Notes  on  some  English  Judges,"  "it  was 
the  custom  for  attorneys  who  had  to  attend  the  Assizes  to  ride  to  the  assize  town 
on  horseback.  The  city  of  Chester,  where  the  courts  always  sat,  was  twenty 
or  more  miles  from  Nantwich;  and  once,  as  Mr.  Tomkinson  and  his  clerk  were 
riding  side  by  side,  Mr.  Kenyon  asked  his  master  to  tell  him  what  was  the  most 
important  thing  in  law.  'Oh,  yes,'  replied  the  master,  'I  will  tell  you  what  of 
all  things  in  law  is  the  most  important  to  be  attended  to;  but  it  must  be  on  the 
condition  that  you  pay  for  the  dinner  we  are  to  have  on  our  way  at  Bar  Hill 
to-day.'  Supposing  that  this  mean  condition  would  be  acceded  to,  Mr.  Tom- 
kinson told  his  clerk  that,  of  all  things  in  law  to  be  most  attended  to,  evidence 
was  the  chief.  They  arrived  at  Bar  Hill,  and  after  dinner,  when  the  land- 
lord's bill  came  in,  Mr.  Tomkinson  tossed  it  over  to  Mr.  Kenyon,  saying  that 
it  was  his  concern;  but  he  affected  surprise,  and  handed  it  back  again;  upon 
which  Mr.  Tomkinson  reminded  him  of  the  condition  he  had  made  on  the  way. 
The  clerk  said  that  if  there  was  any  such  condition  his  master  must  give  evi- 
dence, which,  as  the  party  in  a  cause  could  not  give  evidence,  was  a  complete 
estoppel;  and  thus  the  master  was  caught  by  his  own  device." 

Of  Mr.  Tomkinson  it  might  be  said  that,  though  he  was  very  rich,  crescit 
amor  nummi,  quantum  ipsa  pecunia  crescit.  Other  stories  of  the  hoarding  pro- 
pensities of  this  grasping  lawyer  were  still  in  circulation  there  twenty  years 
ago.    (See  James  Hall:  "History  of  Nantwich,"  1883,  p.  461.) 

It  was  he  whose  portrait  by  Gainsborough  was  shown  at  Burlington  House 
in  1892  (No.  24). 


1794).= 


THE  RED  ROOM 

of  these  sons  was  Edward,  the  fair  boy  standing  in  this  painting,  who 
was  born  in  January  and  baptized  March  8,  1773,  and  died  unmarried 
in  1 819,  aged  46;  he  was  buried  at  Acton;  the  fourth  son,  William,  was 
the  father  of  James  Tomkinson,  M.P.  (born  1840),  who  in  1906  wrote 
the  letter  to  the  late  Mr.  Lockett  Agnew  that  we  reproduce  (page  10) ; 
the  second  son,  the  Rev.  James,  of  Dorfold  Hall,  had  by  his  wife  Julia 
(a  daughter  of  John  Nesham,  Esq.,  of  Houghton-le-Spring,  County 
Durham)  one  son  and  two  daughters.  The  Rev.  James  Tomkinson's 
son,  Henry  James,  died  unmarried;  but  his  elder  daughter  and  heiress, 
Anne,  married  Wilbraham  Spencer  Tollemache,  of  Dorfold  (1807- 
1890),  younger  brother  of  the  first  Lord  Tollemache,  on  June  25,  1844; 
she  was  buried  at  Acton,  April  25,  1871,  leaving  issue  Henry  James 
Tollemache  (born  1846),  formerly  M.P.  for  West  Cheshire,  another 
son  and  two  daughters. 

This  Henry  James  Tollemache  concerns  us  closely,  for  it  was  he  who 
lent  this  picture  to  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  in  1889,  as  we  shall 
see  (page  8).  He,  doubtless,  inherited  this  double  portrait  (of  his 
grand-uncle  Edward  Tomkinson,  and  the  latter's  cousin  William  Tom- 
kinson, or  Wettenhall)  from  his  father,  Wilbraham  Spencer  Tollemache, 
who  probably  had  it  from  his  father-in-law,  James  Tomkinson,  who  was 
(as  we  have  seen)  the  eldest  of  the  three  younger  brothers  of  Edward, 
the  fair  boy  in  our  canvas. 

Passing  from  family  history  to  the  internal  evidence  of  style,  we  see 
that  beyond  question  this  picture  is  a  very  late  work  by  Gainsborough, 
and  therefore  one  painted  by  him  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power.  Con- 
siderable interest  thus  attaches  to  the  passage  that  we  quote  from  the 
master's  latest  biographer : 

"Unfortunately  no  contemporary  Journal  gives  a  complete  list  of 
Gainsborough's  intended  contributions  to  the  Royal  Academy  for 
1784,  but  the  titles  of  eight  of  them  are  to  be  seen  on  a  sheet  of  paper 
yellowed  with  age  in  the  possession  of  the  Royal  Academy.  At  the 
top  is  written  in  the  painter's  hand:  'Portraits  by  T.  Gainsborough; 
the  frames  sent.'  Then  follow,  in  the  order  named,  rough  pen  and 
ink  sketches  of  the  portraits  of  the  three  eldest  Princesses,  Lady 
Buckinghamshire,  Lord  Buckinghamshire,  Lord  Rodney,  Lord  Raw- 
don,  'two  boys  with  a  dog— Master  Tomkinsons,'  and  Lord  Hood. 
Finally  Gainsborough  sketches  what  he  describes  as  a  'family  picture, 
Mr.  Bailey,'  which  is  the  well-known  group  of  'The  Baillie  Family' 

Z  6  2 


THE  RED  ROOM 


now  in  the  National  Gallery.  He  writes  below  the  sketches:  'N.B. 
The  frame  of  the  Princesses  cannot  be  sent  but  with  the  picture,  as 
their  Majesties  are  to  have  a  private  view  of  the  picture  at  Buck- 
ingham House  before  it  is  sent  to  the  Royal  Academy.'  The  sketches 
of  the  Buckinghamshires,  Lord  Rodney,  Lord  Rawdon,  and  the  Tom- 
kinson  boys  are  ticked  at  the  side  in  red,  and  in  the  same  ink  'come' 
is  written  on  the  sheet  to  indicate  that  these  particular  works  or  their 
frames  had  been  received  at  the  Academy. 

"There  was  every  prospect  of  a  brilliant  display  of  Gainsborough's 
work  at  the  Exhibition,  but  it  was  destroyed  all  at  once  by  a  notifica- 
tion in  the  Morning  Herald,  of  April  22nd,  that  the  artist  had  been 
obliged  to  withdraw  his  pictures  because  the  Council  would  not  hang 
one  of  them  in  a  particular  light,  although  he  had  left  to  their  dis- 
cretion the  placing  of  all  his  other  works." ^ 

We  read  that,  in  May,  1786,  Gainsborough  "was  at  this  time  engaged 
upon  a  beautiful  landscape  in  the  foreground  of  which  the  trio  of  pigs 
that  are  so  highly  celebrated  by  the  Connoisseurs  are  introduced,  together 
with  the  little  girl  and  several  other  rustic  figures."  The  picture  was 
bought  a  few  weeks  later  by  Mr.  J.  Tollemache,  who  was  the  owner  of 
Gainsborough's  "Two  Shepherd's  Boys  with  Dogs  Fighting,"  exhibited 
at  the  Academy  of  1783.^ 

"^W.  T.  Whitley:  "Thomas  Gainsborough,"  1915,  pp.  212-213.  William  B. 
Boulton:  "Thomas  Gainsborough,"  1907,  p.  268,  also  refers  to  this  incident  in 
1784,  and  mentions  "The  Tomkinson  Boys"  among  the  canvases  so  prepared 
for  exhibition. 

5  We  shall  avoid  confusion  of  various  pictures  by  Gainsborough,  if  we  realize 
that  there  were  three  that  in  any  way  concern  us  now: 

{a)  That  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1783  (No.  35)  under  the  title  of 
"Two  Shepherd's  Boys  with  Dogs  Fighting."  After  being  engraved  by  G.  Du- 
pont,  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  at  Exton  (Fulcher,  pp.  190  and  240).  The  late  Sir 
Walter  Armstrong  in  his  excellent  and  authoritative  monograph  on  "Gains- 
borough," 1898,  p.  203,  compresses  that  title  into  "Two  Boys  with  a  Dog."  For 
some  reason  that  is  not  clear  Sir  Walter  states  that  the  picture  then  exhibited 
portrays  "The  Masters  Tomkinson."  He  does  not  in  so  many  words  maintain 
that  it  is  to  be  identified  with  the  one  that  formerly  belonged  to  Mr.  Ludwig 
Neumann,  and  is  now  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft.  Yet  he  would 
seem,  so  far  as  one  may  iqfer  from  his  list,  to  have  been  under  some  false  im- 
pression. For  neither  "The  Masters  Tomkinson"  (or  "The  Tomkinson  Boys"), 
now  hanging  before  our  eyes,  nor  any  other  putative  portrait  group  of  them, 
was  exhibited  at  the  Academy  during  the  artist's  lifetime.  And  no  other  picture 
possesses  the  same  title. 

{b)  The  canvas  withdrawn  before  the  Exhibition  of  1784,  and  now  at  Cincin- 
nati.   This  Sir  Walter  "lists"  separately,  and  naturally  describes  as  "Henry 

1: 7 : 


THE  RED  ROOM 

This  Mr.  Tollemache,  doubtless,  would  be  a  member  of  the  Cheshire 
family  of  that  name,  in  whose  possession  the  present  canvas  was  for- 
merly, as  we  have  seen.  In  any  event,  it  was  Mr.  Henry  J.  Tollemache 
who  lent  it  to  the  Old  Masters  Exhibition  at  Burlington  House  in  1889. 
It  was  then  catalogued  (No.  142)  as  "Henry  and  Edward  Tomkinson," 
who  were,  moreover,  described  as  the  sons  of  James  Tomkinson  of  Bos- 
tock.  As  we  now  realize,  no  credence  is  to  be  placed  in  such  an  identifi- 
cation. The  Academy  cataloguer  confused  our  Edward  Tomkinson 
(born  1773)  with  his  father  Edward  (born  1743),  and  wrongly  de- 
scribed the  other  boy,  actually  William,  as  Henry  who  had  indeed  been 
born  as  early  as  1741.^  A  mere  mistake  in  the  names  might  be  pardoned, 
if  it  did  not  affect  the  style  and  period  of  the  work  in  question.  And 
errors  in  identification  are  far  from  unknown  at  Burlington  House. 
But  a  moment's  glance  at  the  canvas  shows  it  to  be  exceedingly  late  in 
the  great  master's  oeuvre.  It  cannot,  therefore,  represent  two  boys  of  the 
Tomkinson  family  circa  1753,  but  just  thirty  years  later.*^ 

We  must  remember  that,  on  the  occasion  of  its  exhibition  at  Burling- 
ton House  in  1889,  this  canvas  was  an  entirely  unknown  work.  That  it 
was  also  highly  esteemed  is  shown  by  the  following  quotation  from  the 
daily  press: 

"In  spite  of  the  entire  absence  of  Italian,  Spanish,  and  early  Ger- 
man pictures,  the  present  Exhibition  at  Burlington  House,  which 
opens  to  the  public  this  morning,  is  one  of  astonishing  excellence.  .  .  . 
There  has  seldom  been  a  richer  display  of  the  art  of  Romney,  and 

Isic]  and  Edward  Tomkinson,"  the  title  officially  (but  incorrectly)  conferred 
on  it  by  the  Academy's  cataloguer  in  1889. 

{c)  The  above-mentioned  "Landscape  with  a  Little  Girl  and  other  Rustic 
Figures  and  Pigs,"  upon  which  Gainsborough  was  engaged  in  1786.  It  cannot 
now  be  identified.   Is  it  among  the  "lost"  pictures  by  this  artist? 

We  may  regret  that  Mr.  Whitley,  op.  cit.,  p.  262,  did  not  recognize  and  try 
to  solve  the  problem  that  now  confronts  us.  Not,  of  course,  that  it  in  any  real 
sense  affects  our  canvas  as  being  an  absolutely  autograph  and  very  late  work 
by  Gainsborough. 

6  That  Henry  Tomkinson  was,  in  fact,  the  father  of  the  fair  boy,  Edward, 
here  painted,  and  the  uncle  of  the  dark  boy,  William,  seated  in  our  com- 
position. 

7  The  error  was  revived,  although  in  a  different  way,  when,  in  1892,  Mr. 
Henry  J.  Tollemache  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  the  portrait  by  Gains- 
borough (No.  24)  said  to  represent  "James  Tomkinson"  (1711-1794),  the  father 
of  the  boys,  as  described  in  the  earlier  Exhibition.  This  official  but  mislead- 
ing identification  may  be  noted  in  Armstrong's  "Gainsborough,"  page  203. 
James  Tomlinson  was,  in  fact,  the  grandfather  of  the  boy  William  here  repre- 
sented. 

1:  8  3 


THE  RED  ROOM 


the  two  Gainsborough  landscapes,  his  full-length  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
and  his  portrait  of  the  two  young  boys,  Henry  [sic]  and  Edward 
Tomkinson  (No.  142),  are  of  the  highest  value  and  interest.  This 
last  is  indeed  a  charming  work,  and  Gainsborough  seldom  painted 
a  more  delightful  picture  than  that  of  the  elder  ^  boy  in  his  blue  coat, 
standing  facing  the  spectator  with  his  hat  in  his  hand.  In  all  the 
familiar  qualities  of  Gainsborough's  art  this  picture  stands  out  as 
one  of  very  great  interest :  the  colour  is  delightful  and  the  landscape 
exquisite."^ 

Long  after  the  close  of  that  Exhibition  the  picture  passed  into  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  Ludwig  Neumann,  in  London,  and  still  later  it  was  acquired 
by  Messrs.  Thomas  Agnew  and  Sons,  at  whose  galleries  it  was  shown  in 
November,  1906  (No.  11),  under  the  title  of  "Edward  and  William 
Tomkinson."   In  the  Times,  November  8,  1906,  we  read: 

"The  Exhibition  held  by  Messrs.  Agnew  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Artists'  General  Benevolent  Institution  is  always  one  of  the  most 
interesting  of  the  year.  ...  It  is  filled  with  fine  things,  nearly  all 
of  them  unknown  to  the  present  generation.  ...  It  is  amusing  to 
contrast  'William  and  George  Brummell'  (No.  7),  by  Reynolds,  with 
another  group  of  boys  by  Sir  Joshua's  great  rival  Gainsborough  that 
hangs  close  by — 'Henry  and  Edward  Tomkinson,'  Cheshire  lads  of  a 
family  still  prominent  in  that  county.  Sir  Joshua's  children  are  little 
more  than  babies,  but  these  two  lads  have  come  to  years  of  dis- 
cretion,and  are  as  dignified  as  the  'Balbi  Children'  (by  Van  Dyck) 
opposite.  Gainsborough  has  made  of  them  one  of  his  most  charming 
compositions  and  one  of  his  loveliest  eifects  of  colour,  the  contrast 
between  the  blue  coat  of  the  boy  standing  and  the  red  of  his  brother 
making,  with  the  landscape,  a  delightful  effect  of  harmony  and  grace. 
The  picture  is  as  yet  little  known,  but  it  is  quite  worthy  to  rank 
among  the  great  Gainsboroughs  of  the  world." 

Further  testimony  at  that  period  was  provided  by  Sir  Claude  Phillips, 
who  on  November  12,  1906,  wrote  in  the  London  Daily  Telegraph: 

"Gainsborough  is  much  more  liberally  represented  than  his  rival. 
A  great  portrait-piece  from  his  brush  is  the  'Henry  [j/c]  and  Edward 
Tomkinson,'  formerly  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  L.  Neumann  of 

8  He  was,  in  fact,  the  younger. 
®  The  Times,  London,  January  7,  1889. 
1®  Each  was,  in  fact,  only  in  his  twelfth  year. 

c  9  n 


THE  RED  ROOM 


Grosvenor  Square.  If  this  master  was  far  less  sympathetic  than 
Reynolds  in  his  portrayal  of  children,  he  was  simpler  and  more  down- 
right, except,  indeed,  when  he  grouped  them  into  those  simpering, 
rouged,  charming  and  impossible  little  cottagers  with  whom  he  stocks 
his  landscapes.    Here  the  full  splendour  of  his  brush  is  displayed." 

The  opportunity  was  thus  provided  for  Mr.  James  Tomkinson,  to  whom 
we  have  already  made  reference  (page  6),  to  examine  and  comment  on 
this  portrait  of  two  of  his  ancestors.  In  consequence  he  wrote  to  the 
late  Mr.  Lockett  Agnew  as  follows : 

"This  morning  I  have  been  looking  at  the  beautiful  Gainsborough 
portrait  of  my  kinsman  (No.  ii)  and  herein  send  you  the  correct 
identity  of  the  boys.  The  fair  boy  as  described  in  the  catalogue 
(copied  from  that  of  an  exhibition  of  Old  Masters  some  30  years 
ago)  would  be  my  grandfather,  whereas  he  really  was  my  father's 
eldest  brother. 

''It  is  obvious,  I  think,  that  a  boy  born  in  1741,  and  14  in  I755> 
would  fix  a  date  too  early  for  Gainsborough  to  have  painted  him  at 
28— as  he  (Gainsborough)  would  be  in  1755- 

''Taking  1773  as  the  date  of  the  boy's  birth— and  putting  them  at 
14— the  date  is  fixed  at  1787  for  the  portrait,  one  year  before  Gains- 
borough's death.  .  .  . 

"They  were  Edward  Tomkinson  and  William  Tomkinson  (after- 
wards Wettenhall) ,  cousins,  grandsons  of  James  Tomkinson  of  Dor- 
fold,  born  1773  [sic], 

"The  fair  boy  is  Edward,  eldest  son  of  Henry  Tomkinson  of  Dor- 
fold.  The  dark  one  (sitting)  is  William,  eldest  son  of  Edward 
Tomkinson  (afterwards  Wettenhall).  As  Gainsborough  died  in 
1788,  and  the  boys  are  apparently  14  years  old,  the  portrait  must 
have  been  one  of  his  last  productions." 

As  a  statement  of  general  fact  the  above  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  our 
knowledge  and  a  just  criticism  of  the  picture.  But  in  certain  details  it 
is  demonstrably  incorrect  in  the  light  of  our  recent  research.  Thus 
William  was  born,  as  we  have  seen,  on  October  19,  1772,  and  not  in 
1773,  and  Edward  in  January,  1773.  The  picture  was  certainly  finished 
by  April,  1784,  when  the  boys  would  be  eleven  years  and  five  months 
and  eleven  years  and  two  months  respectively. 

Strangely  enough,  the  news  of  the  purchase  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 
P.  Taft  of  this  portrait  group  drew  from  another  relation  of  these 


THE  RED  ROOM 


"Tomkinson  Boys"  a  letter  of  some  moment.  For  Edward  Philip  Tom- 
kinson  ( 1 850-1 91 8)  wrote,  from  Los  Angeles  some  years  ago,  to  Mr.  Taft 
that  it  was  from  Dorfold,  near  Nantwich,  that  Mr.  Henry  Tollemache 
had  sold  the  picture.  He  added  also  that  the  fair  boy,  Edward  Tom- 
kinson,  was  "my  father's  eldest  brother  and  consequently  my  uncle."^^ 
"It  seems,"  he  added,  "a  long  span  of  years  between  an  uncle  and  a 
nephew,  but  my  father  was  the  youngest  son  of  that  family,  and  I  am 
the  youngest  son  of  our  family.  Added  to  this,  my  father  did  not  marry 
until  in  his  47th  year,  and  I  as  the  youngest  son  was  born  when  he  had 
arrived  at  the  ripe  age  of  sixty." 

This  view  entirely  bears  out  our  rather  lengthy  contention  as  to  the 
identity  of  these  "Masters  Tomkinson." 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  8. 
New  York  Times,  November  21,  1909. 
Burlington  Magazine,  1 9 10,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 

Putnam's  Magazine,  1 9 10,  Vol.  VII,  p.  528,  in  an  article  by  Miss  E.  L. 
Gary,  where  it  is  reproduced  under  the  title  of  "The  Tompkinson  \_sic^ 
Boys" : 

"Gainsborough  is  also  represented  with  a  portrait  of  the  'Tom- 
kinson Boys,'  lads  of  twelve  or  fourteen,  in  quaint  coats  and  breeches, 
placed  in  a  landscape  by  the  side  of  two  trees.  It  is  more  perfunctory 
than  the  gentle  'Maria  Walpole'  [No.  21  in  this  collection],  but  is 
not  without  a  good  deal  of  quiet  charm.  They  are,  however,  not  to 
be  considered  for  a  moment  with  the  lad  Edward  Satchwell  Eraser 
whom  Sir  Henry  Raeburn  has  limned,  a  manly  young  Scotchman." 

"Among  these  choicer  examples  of  the  world's  masters  must  rank  the 
two  pictures,  by  Gainsborough  and  Romney  [^i.e..  The  "Tomkinson 
Boys"  and  the  "Mrs.  Johnson"].  The  former  was  hung  at  the 
Royal  Academy  in  1784,  but  was  not  exhibited;  Gainsborough  with- 
drawing the  eight  portraits  which  he  sent  in  that  year  before  they 
were  placed  on  view,  owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  Committee  to  hang 
one  of  them— the  portrait  group  of  the  'Princess  Royal,  Princess 

11  This  Mr.  Edward  P.  Tomkinson  (1850-1918)  was  the  fifth  son  of  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel William  Tomkinson  (1790-1872),  who  was  the  third  brother  of 
the  boy  Edward  portrayed  in  this  canvas.  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Edward  P. 
Tomkinson  for  a  kind  letter  on  the  subject. 


THE  RED  ROOM 


Augusta  and  Princess  Elizabeth' — at  the  height  he  wished.  From 
this  time  onwards  the  artist  ceased  to  contribute  to  any  of  the  Acad- 
emy's exhibitions.  This  work  is  a  splendid  example  of  Gainsborough's 
later  period;  it  was  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Ludwig 

Neumann.  ^^^^  Connoisseur,  1913,  Vol.  XXXVI,  p.  51. 

The  excellent  reproductions  in  colour  of  this  and  other  pictures  in  the 
collection  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft  by  the  Ladies'  Home  Jour- 
nal gave  rise  to  the  following  criticism  in  its  columns  in  May,  191 7, 
p.  14: 

"This  delightful  picture,  which  is  ranked  by  some  critics  as  the 
finest  of  Gainsborough's  canvases,  brings  together  much  that  he  loved 
best  to  paint— landscape  and  beautiful  childhood.  The  picture  also 
shows  the  qualities  for  which  the  English  school  of  portrait  painting 
was  most  famous — fine  colour,  decorative  arrangement  and  a  refined 
and  agreeable  humanity — traits  which  made,  and  still  make,  such  pic- 
tures particularly  beautiful  and  companionable  ornaments  in  a  dig- 
nified home.'* 

Lately  the  present  writer  has  summarized  the  facts  regarding  this  picture 
as  follows: 

"It  is  remarkable  how  sensational  were  some  of  the  incidents  in  the 
closing  years  of  Gainsborough,  and  how  the  interest  evoked  by  the 
portraits  he  painted  at  the  very  end  of  his  career  not  only  still  sub- 
sists but  is  ever  on  the  increase.  That  his  'feathery'  manner  charac- 
terizes his  later  works  is  fully  admitted.  We  recall  the  words  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  in  the  Discourse  he  delivered  late  in  1788,  when  the 
world  had  'lately  lost  Mr.  Gainsborough.'  'All  those  odd  scratches 
and  marks  observable  in  his  pictures,'  the  President  said,  'by  a  kind 
of  magic,  at  a  certain  distance,  assume  form  and  all  the  parts  seem 
to  drop  into  their  proper  places.'  This  remark  applies  admirably  to 
the  'Masters  Tomkinson,'  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 
P.  Taft  at  Cincinnati. 

"However  opinions  may  vary  to-day  as  to  the  usefulness  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  its  foundation  in  the  third  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  inevitable.  The  Academy's  'Instrument,'  by  which  it 
was  founded  as  a  society  'for  promoting  the  arts  of  design,'  has  from 
the  outset  met  with  criticism ;  it  has  even  been  dubbed  'the  most  un- 
constitutional parchment  in  existence.'    Gainsborough's  attitude  was 


THE  RED  ROOM 


at  times  antagonistic,  and  generations  of  critics  have  claimed  that  the 
chief  object  of  the  originators  of  the  Academy  was  'not  to  promote 
the  arts  of  design  but  to  promote  themselves.'  But  from  the  time  that 
its  members  began,  in  1870,  to  organize  loan  exhibitions  of  paintings 
by  the  Old  Masters  it  has  been  increasingly  evident  that  they  have 
thereby  contributed  vastly  to  the  world's  knowledge  and  appreciation 
of  the  history  of  painting.  Not,  of  course,  that  exact  scholarship 
and  penetrating  research  have  always  characterized  the  official  cata- 
logues of  such  exhibitions.  Indeed,  the  present  picture  suffices  to 
show  the  justice  of  this  contention.  For  when  our  portrait  group 
was  lent  to  the  Exhibition  of  1889,  it  was  an  entirely  unknown  work, 
not  having  been  previously  exhibited,  engraved  or  even  cited  by  any 
art-writer.  It  was  then  catalogued  (No.  142)  as  'Henry  and  Ed- 
ward Tomkinson,  sons  of  James  Tomkinson,  of  Bostock.'  As  we 
now  realize,  no  credence  is  to  be  placed  in  such  an  identification.  The 
Academy's  cataloguer  confused  the  Edward  Tomkinson  in  our  pic- 
ture—he was  born  in  1773— with  his  father,  also  Edward,  born  in 
1743.  He  also  wrongly  described  the  other  boy,  actually  William, 
as  Henry,  who  had  been  born  as  early  as  1741.  A  mere  error  in 
nomenclature  would,  perhaps,  be  due  to  the  carelessness  or  the  lack 
of  knowledge  of  one  or  other  of  the  descendants  who  provided  the 
information  at  the  time  of  the  exhibition.  Such  error  were  pardon- 
able if  it  did  not  conflict  with  the  stylistic  considerations  of  the  work 
in  question.  But  a  momentary  glance  at  the  canvas  would  have 
revealed  that  it  was  painted  at  the  very  end  of  the  artist's  career,  and 
not  circa  1753.  To  tally  with  the  statement  in  the  catalogue  and  the 
obvious  childhood  of  the  boys  represented,  it  would  have  had  to  come 
from  the  hand  of  Gainsborough  thirty-five  years  before  he  died.  In 
point  of  fact,  it  was  undertaken  and  achieved  only  four  years  before 
his  end  came.  .  .  . 

"The  magnificently  painted  and  wonderfully  preserved  work  be- 
fore us  belongs  to  the  same  period  as  the  large  'Baillie  Family,'  now 
in  the  National  Gallery,  and  the  superb  'Count  Rumford,'  which, 
under  the  title  of  'Gainsborough's  American  Sitter,'  was  published  in 
Art  in  America  in  December,  191 7.  Painted  in  1784,  it  antedates 
the  world-famous  'Market  Cart'  of  1786,  now  in  the  National 
Gallery.  .  .  . 

"It  will  not  be  gainsaid  that  Gainsborough  has  here  produced 
a  masterpiece,  both  in  technical  accomplishment  and  in  the  striking 

in-} 


THE  RED  ROOM 


characterization  of  two  lads,  who  are  not  only  sympathetic  but  each 
of  whom  is  in  his  twelfth  year." 
M.  W.  Brockwell:  "Gainsborough's  Portrait  of  the  Tomkinson  Boys" 
in  Art  in  America^  April,  1919,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  116-121. 


WILLEM  MARIS 

Dutch  School;.  184J-IQIO 

BORN  at  The  Hague  in  1843,  W^illem  was  to  die  the 
least  famous  of  the  three  brothers  Maris.  He  early 
showed  a  talent  for  drawing,  and  by  the  age  of  twelve 
was  encouraged  by  his  brothers  James  and  Matthew  (born  re- 
spectively six  and  four  years  earlier  than  he)  to  go  out  into  the 
open  country  and  draw  domestic  animals.  By  his  brothers  his 
path  was  smoothed  in  a  way  that  they  themselves  did  not  ex- 
perience. He  first  exhibited  in  1864.  In  1876  he  went  to 
Norway.  Yet  apparently  he  never  painted  its  scenery.  Per- 
haps his  aims  were  not  as  exalted  as  were  those  of  his  brothers. 
In  any  event,  he  never  approached  them  as  an  inventor  of  pic- 
torial designs.  He  also  had  less  emotion  and  love  of  experi- 
ment than  they.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  probably  the  best 
appreciated  of  the  three  in  his  native  Holland  by  his  own 
people.  He  preferred  to  dally  with  the  meeker  varieties  of 
green  landscape,  grass  and  rushes  than  to  fight  with  the  pow- 
erful tones  of  the  horses  hauling  a  canal  boat,  or  ploughing  a 
heavy  field,  or  a  bold  mass  of  great  windmill  strong  and  mighty 
against  a  cloudy  sky.  Again,  the  very  fact  that  he  is  the  third 
of  the  name,  in  the  same  generation,  militates  against  his  per- 
sonal success  in  the  highest  walks  of  art.  The  charm  of  his 
works  lies  in  their  rendering  of  the  joy  of  sunshine  in  landscape 
painting,  and  in  the  quiet  happiness  of  a  summer  afternoon. 
With  others  of  his  contemporaries,  he  abhorred  the  "brown 
sauce"  which,  they  thought,  characterized  an  earlier  period  of 
Dutch  painting. 


THE  RED  ROOM 


No.  2  Ducks. 

A  near  view  of  the  edge  of  a  pond,  bordered  by  water  lilies 
and  green  grass.  From  the  right,  a  duck,  followed  by  her 
young,  is  entering  the  water.  Rather  more  to  the  left,  but  still 
in  the  centre  of  the  composition,  a  drake  and  two  ducks  are 
preening  themselves. 

Wood,  S}4  inches  by  lO^  inches.  (0.21  xo.26) 

Reproduced  in  D.  Croal  Thomson's  "Brothers  Maris,"  published  by 
the  Studio,  1907,  plate  W.  5. 

That  this  is  a  representative  work  by  Willem  Maris  may  be  shown  by 
other  pictures  by  him  which  are,  however,  differently  composed  and 
which  vary  in  size.  Of  these  we  may  mention  the  large  "Ducks,"  from 
the  Alexander  Young  Collection,  reproduced  in  the  International  Studio, 
1 906-1 907,  Vol.  XXX,  p.  300.  Allied  in  spirit,  although  differently 
composed,  is  "The  Family"  (Croal  Thomson,  plate  W.  9.).  Ducks  are 
found  again  in  this  artist's  "Under  the  Willow  Trees"  (reproduced  in 
Max  Rooses:  "Dutch  Painters  of  the  XIX  Century,"  1901,  Vol.  II, 
p.  100),  and  are  again  met  with  in  "Ducks  among  the  Reeds"  (Max 
Rooses,  Vol.  II,  p.  107).  Mr.  J.  C.  J.  Drucker  exhibited  a  "Pond 
with  Ducks"  (9  inches  X20>^  inches)  by  Willem  Maris  at  the  Guild- 
hall, London,  in  1903  (No.  67).  Again,  the  National  Gallery  possesses 
(No.  2875)  a  "Ducks."  There  is  also  a  water-colour  of  the  subject 
in  the  collection  of  Mr.  H.  G.  Tersteeg. 

Such  works  as  "The  Young  Brood,"  "The  Edge  of  the  Water,"  "A 
Quiet  Corner,"  and  "The  Interloper"— all  exhibited  at  the  French  Gal- 
lery, London,  in  191 1— show  the  same  beautiful  study  of  ducklings  by 
the  water-side  in  vivid  sunlight  with  a  background  of  rich  foliage. 


THE  RED  ROOM 


PIERRE  ETIENNE  THEODORE  ROUSSEAU 


ROM  his  early  years  he  was  a  student  of  nature  and 


resolved  to  become  a  landscape  painter.  He  was,  in  fact, 


to  be  one  of  the  first  exponents  of  the  "romantic"  as 
opposed  to  the  "classic"  landscape.  In  spite  of  early  encour- 
agement, when  everything  promised  well,  he  for  thirteen  suc- 
cessive years  found  his  pictures  excluded  from  the  Salon.  Thus 
he  earned  the  sobriquet  of  "le  grand  refuse."  In  time  he 
settled  in  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau,  becoming  the  real  head 
of  the  Barbizon  School.  Conscientious  artist  as  he  was,  his 
love  of  accurate  detail  did  not  lead  him  to  lose  sight  of  syn- 
thetic representation.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  in  his  case, 
as  he  loved  the  trees  in  the  forest  as  if  they  were  individuals, 
and  possessed  of  individual  character  and  distinguishing  tem- 
perament. Thus  he  did  not  render  them  as  mere  masses  of 
stems  and  foliage,  but  may  be  said  to  have  painted  their  "por- 
traits." In  this  respect,  as  in  others,  his  art  was  in  some  degree 
influenced  by  that  of  his  senior,  John  Constable.  Moreover, 
each  had  to  fight  his  way  to  public  recognition  and  eventual 
fame  through  innumerable  obstacles  and  difliculties. 

Although  the  brother  in  art,  and  the  companion,  of  Jean 
Frangois  Millet,  he  does  not  carry  us  away,  as  the  latter  does, 
into  the  sorrowing  epochs  of  rustic  life  to  reveal  their  savage 
grandeur  or  gloomy  solemnity.  Nor  does  he,  like  the  lyrical 
Corot,  transport  the  beholder  into  the  lands  of  twilight.  But, 
impregnated  with  naturalism  and  the  glowing  sunset  sky,  he 
renders  trees  in  their  exact  relationship  to  animals  and  man, 
to  earth  and  sky. 

Always  appreciated  more  highly  in  foreign  lands  than  in 
France,  his  works  have  long  been  duly  esteemed  in  this  country. 
This  failure  to  win  acceptance  in  his  own  land  shortened  the 


French  School;  i8i2-i86j 


1:16:1 


THE  RED  ROOM 


"dream" — for  it  has  been  well  said  that  it  is  ridiculous  to  call 
his,  a  life — of  the  unfortunate  Rousseau.  Thus  in  1867  la 
grande  harmonie  followed,  with  awful  suddenness,  upon  the 
tragedy  of  his  disappointments  and  anxieties. 

No.  3    La  Mare  A  Dagnan,  sur  le  Plateau  de  Belle- 
Croix. 

Broken  ground  in  front,  with  a  small  pond  in  the  middle 
distance.  Behind  the  pond  is  a  large  oak  tree;  other  trees 
extend  to  the  left  and  right  of  the  composition.    Cloudy  sky. 

Canvas,  25  inches  by  40  inches.  (0.63  x  1.02) 

The  cipher  *'TH.  R.,"  in  red,  is  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

Included  in  the  Rousseau  sale  held  at  the  Hotel  Drouot,  Paris,  some 
months  after  the  artist's  death.  It  was  then  described  (No.  37)  as  being 
of  1 858-1 860.  The  measurement  (0.63x1.03)  agrees  exactly.  The 
same  sale  also  included  the  "Mare  sur  le  Plateau  de  Belle-Croix,"  which 
(0.65  X  1.04)  was  described  as  an  "ebauche  a  I'huile  avec  indications  au 
pastel,"  of  1857.  It  ^1^0  contained  a  ''fusain  rehausse  de  blanc,  sur 
toile,"  of  1865,  of  the  'Tlateau  de  Belle-Croix." 

As  Sensier  (''Souvenirs  sur  Th.  Rousseau,"  1872,  p.  178)  tells  us: 
"c'est  dans  ces  jours  de  fin  d'automne  que,  I'esprit  pousse  au  noir,  Rous- 
seau se  mit  a  reprendre  pour  la  centieme  fois  une  etude  du  Plateau  de 
Bellecroix."  The  setting  of  a  pool  of  water  in  a  wide  landscape  backed 
by  trees— as  in  the  present  work — had  a  peculiar  fascination  for  Rous- 
seau; of  this  we  judge  by  plates  25-32  in  Gensel's  "Millet  and  Rous- 
seau," in  the  Kiinstler  Monographien  series,  to  go  no  farther  afield. 

ANTON  MAUVE 
Dutch  School;  18 38-1 888 

JUST  as  every  portrait  painter  sees  in  different  terms  the 
character  and  the  appearance  of  the  sitter  he  will  portray, 
so  every  artist  has  his  especial  taste  in  the  selection  he 
makes  of  the  landscape  that  he  prefers  to  interpret.  The  dis- 
position of  Mauve  led  him  to  stray  among,  and  so  in  time  to 


THE  RED  ROOM 


paint,  soft  mossy  downs,  green  fields  and  country  lanes  sparsely 
covered  with  tufts  of  grass.  In  such  a  pearly  gray  setting  do 
Mauve's  cattle  graze,  while  his  sense  of  humanity  in  such  an 
environment  at  times  demanded  the  introduction  of  a  clumsy 
farm  hand  or  a  bony  labourer.  In  his  low-lying  Dutch  lands, 
of  soft  gray  lanes  with  birch  trees,  silvery  leaves  and  pearly 
aspect,  there  is  a  spiritual  tenderness.  At  Kranenburg  near 
Dekkershuin  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Loosduinen,  not  far  from 
The  Hague,  he  found  ready  to  hand  the  subject  matter  he  most 
cherished.  Such  a  setting  evoked  a  mood  akin  to  the  attacks  of 
melancholia  from  which  this  tranquil,  sensitive  painter  of  pas- 
toral and  partially  isolated  landscapes  suffered  at  intervals. 

He  had  not  the  depth  of  colour,  nor  the  rich  palette,  nor  the 
rhythmic  sense  of  line  that  mark  the  art  of  the  Maris  brothers. 
Nor  was  his  artistic  soul  struck  by  the  splendour  of  colour,  the 
massive  windmills  or  other  objective  adjuncts  that  are  sprinkled 
about  in  the  canvases  of  so  many  of  his  Dutch  contemporaries. 
Being  neither  deeply  philosophical  nor  brilliantly  imaginative, 
he  worked  as  a  lyrical  artist.  Tender  and  subjective,  but  never 
dramatic,  he  gives  us  the  childlike  gladness  and  the  purely 
peaceful  moods  of  nature  of  which  he  was  so  close  an  observer. 
In  1883  he  finally  settled  at  Laren,  where  he  was  to  die  in  the 
prime  of  life.  Poetical  rather  than  picturesque,  he  sets  before 
us  an  amazing  technical  facility  and  a  modernity  that  was  all 
his  own. 

No.  4    Cattle  Grazing  {''Cattle  in  the  Meadows,  Hol- 
land''). 

Three  black  and  white  milking  cows  are  standing  in  a  field 
which  is  bounded  on  the  right  by  a  rough  wooden  railing.  The 
farmer,  wearing  brown  clothes  with  blue  sleeves  and  sabots, 
stands  on  the  right.    Summer  sky. 

Canvas,  13  inches  by  27><  inches.  (0.33x0.69) 
Signed:  "A  Mauve,"  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

[183 


THE  RED  ROOM 


ADOLPHE  MONTICELLI 

French  School;  i8 24-1886 


AINTER  of  genre,  landscape  and  portraiture,  he  is  best 


known  for  his  concerts  champetres,  such  as  the  work  be- 


fore  us.  His  family  was  of  remote  Italian  origin,  but 
he  was  born  at  Marseilles.  Extremely  eccentric  as  a  man  and 
as  an  artist,  he  played  with  colour  as  a  musician  plays  with 
chords.  Capricious  and  fascinating,  and  possessing  a  brilliant 
future,  he  found  himself  penniless  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Franco-German  War.  Some  have  contended  that  with  him 
''the  picture  ends  and  the  Persian  carpet  begins" ;  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  his  most  characteristic  pictures  make  but  small 
appeal  to  the  spirit  or  the  intellect  of  those  who  behold  them. 
But  he  was  a  true  romanticist  and  improvisateiir,  and  once  the 
fundamental  structure  of  the  picture  was  completed,  it  was,  in 
his  eyes,  finished.  The  joy  for  such  an  artist  lies  in  the  creat- 
ing, as  does  that  of  the  collectionneur  enrage  lie  in  la  chasse  of 
the  object  desired.  To  such  a  painter  the  quality  of  a  dress 
or  its  fabric  would  be  of  as  little  moment  as  the  form  beneath 
it,  but  it  would  be  all  sufficing  to  introduce  a  strong  note  of 
gold,  red,  green  or  brown,  all  fused  as  if  by  magic.  Such  a 
man  might  well  claim:  "I  paint  for  thirty  years  from  now." 
Careless  alike  of  the  opinions  of  the  public  or  the  press,  it  is 
characteristic  of  him  that,  when  asked  one  day  why  he  never 
exhibited  at  the  Salon,  he  should  reply:  "What  Salon?"  His 
art,  as  emotion,  exhibits  the  strength  as  well  as  the  weakness 
inherent  in  man.  Handsome  and  luxurious,  a  hon  viveur  with 
prodigious  appetites,  ^nd  affecting  impossible  clothing,  he  sold 
his  pictures  and  spent  his  money,  while  absinthe  hastened  his 
end.  But  it  were  best  to  dwell  on  the  amorphous  mass  of  vivid 
hues  that  distinguishes  his  canvases.  For  what  concern  have 
we  with  his  private  life? 


1:19] 


THE  RED  ROOM 

eleven  years  of  age,  and  he  six  years  her  senior.    "Son  caractere  altier," 
we  read,  "se  fit  jour  de  bonne  heure." 

The  character  of  Maria  Luisa  was  an  extraordinary  mixture  of  good 
and  bad.  She  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  will,  and  might  have  been  of 
invaluable  service  to  her  adopted  country  had  she  exercised  her  gifts  with 
more  regard  for  the  rules  which  control  human  conduct.  But  her  vices 
were  stronger  than  her  virtues.  Her  pride  was  overbearing,  and  she 
exacted  every  deference  due,  as  she  thought,  to  a  princess  of  such  exalted 
rank.  At  Parma,  no  sooner  was  she  betrothed  to  the  Prince  of  the 
Asturias  than  she  compelled  her  own  family  to  give  her  precedence.  The 
vexed  question  led  to  interminable  quarrels  with  her  brother. 

"I  will  teach  you  to  respect  me,"  she  cried,  ''for  one  day  I  shall  be 
Queen  of  Spain,  and  you  can  never  be  more  than  Duke  of  Parma." 

The  boy  retaliated  by  slapping  her  face.  *'At  least  I  can  boast  that  I 
have  struck  the  Queen  of  Spain,"  was  his  not  unnatural  retort. 

She  arrived  in  Madrid  to  undergo  a  severe  educational  course  to  fit 
her  for  her  duties.  This  girl,  who  had  barely  left  the  nursery,  found  her- 
self the  first  lady  of  the  Court.  Carlos  III  had  long  been  a  widower,  and 
the  entreaties  of  his  ministers  to  enter  the  marriage  state  for  a  second 
time  were  useless.  Against  the  rocks  of  his  obstinacy  dashed  the  self-will 
of  his  daughter-in-law  from  Parma.  In  the  two  characters  there  was 
not  a  single  point  of  common  sympathy.  .  .  .  Carlos  III  was  a  martinet 
for  order  and  precision.  Maria  Luisa's  pleasure-loving  temperament  was 
not  to  be  checked  by  any  salutary  regulation.  She  lived  in  an  atmosphere 
of  opposition  and  protest.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  she  threw  off  the  strict 
supervision  the  King  had  ordained,  and  walked  in  the  streets  of  the 
capital  unguarded  and  unattended.  In  asking  for  liberty,  she  encouraged 
license.  When  she  ascended  the  throne,  she  was  already  responsible  in 
no  small  degree  for  the  steady  deterioration  of  the  morals  of  the  Court 
she  ruled. 

There  is  no  need  to  enter  into  the  story  of  her  relations  with  Manuel 
Godoy,  the  handsome  young  lieutenant  of  the  royal  guards,  who,  under 
her  patronage,  became  the  most  important  man  in  the  realm.  The  scan- 
dal was  public  throughout  Spain,  and  only  one  person  remained  in  ignor- 
ance. Carlos  IV  was  either  very  stupid  or  most  contemptible.  His  own 
people  judged  him,  and  decided  that  the  monarch  was  a  fool  rather  than 
a  rogue.    Goya's  portraits  confirm  this  decision.^ 

It  is  related,  however,  that  "au  lieu  d'un  amant  docile  a  ses  volontes, 

1  Stokes:  "Goya,"  1914,  pp.  i73-i75- 

IT"] 


THE  RED  ROOM 

elle  trouva  un  maitre,  et  les  relations  intimes  qu'elle  ne  cessa  d'entretenir 
avec  lui  devinrent  pour  elle  une  cause  incessante  d'humiliations  et  d'amers 
regrets.  L'orgueil,  I'ingratitude,  et  surtout  les  infidelites  du  favori  la 
porterent  souvent  a  des  scenes  de  violence  qui  produisaient  des  ruptures 
momentanees  suivies  d'un  prompt  raccommodement.  Jamais  la  reine 
n'eut  la  force  de  briser  sa  creature."  ^ 

Crowned  in  1789,  she  remained  the  Queen  of  Carlos  IV  until  the 
revolution  of  1808.  They  then  fled  to  France,  their  son  Ferdinand  VII 
being  placed  on  the  throne.  She  predeceased  her  husband,  in  Rome,  in 
1 8 19,  by  a  few  days. 

When  this  portrait  was  painted,  in  1799,  the  Queen  was  forty-five 
years  of  age.  Fresh  and  free  in  handling,  it  was  almost  certainly  the 
original  study  for  the  figure  in  the  large  'Tamily  Group  of  Carlos  IV," 
on  which  Goya  worked  in  1 799-1 800.  In  our  picture  she  is  repre- 
sented in  the  same  attitude,  and  wears  the  same  court  costume  and  ample 
array  of  jewels  as  in  the  large  "Familia  de  Carlos  IV"  of  the  Prado, 
This  portrait  long  remained  in  the  Royal  Palace  of  San  Telmo,  at 
Seville,  where  it  seems  to  have  been  No.  63  in  the  Catalogue  (Yriarte: 
*'Goya,"  1867,  p.  146).  About  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  it  was  sold, 
together  with  three  other  portraits  by  Goya,  by  the  Infante  Don  Antonio, 
uncle  of  the  present  King  of  Spain,  to  his  sister  the  Comtesse  de  Paris. 
From  that  lady  it  passed  into  the  collection  of  M.  Denys  Cochin,  at  53 
rue  Babylone,  Paris,  where  it  remained  until  its  purchase  by  its  present 
owners. 

It  is  clearly  identifiable  with  the  "Toile  ovale  [sic].  Figure  en  buste 
de  grandeur  naturelle:  0.82x0.66,"  formerly  in  the  Palace  of  San 
Telmo,  which  P.  Lafond  describes  ("Goya,"  p.  119,  No.  29)  as  the 
companion  to  the  portrait  of  the  King.  It  is  also  as  an  oval,  or  at  least 
framed  as  such,  that  Calvert  reproduces  it  in  his  "Goya"  (1908,  plate 
155)  and  lists  it  as  one  of  the  nineteen  portraits  of  the  Queen  known  to 
him.  One  of  them,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  Due  de  Rivas  but 
now  in  the  H.  O.  Havemeyer  Collection  in  New  York,  represents  her 
"full  face,  a  turban  on  her  head,  with  heavy  ear  and  finger  rings,  and  a 
fan  in  her  right  hand."  Our  portrait  is  again  reproduced  as  an  oval 
canvas  in  Dertel's  "Goya"  {Kilnstler  Monographien  Series,  1907,  p.  60). 
Fourteen  portraits  of  the  Queen  are  listed  by  Von  Loga,  and  twelve 
by  Stokes.    A.  de  Beruete  ("Goya,"  19 16,  Vol.  I,  p.  169)  strangely 

2  "Biogr.  Generale,"  i86o,  Vol.  XXXIII,  p.  668. 


THE  RED  ROOM 


refers  to  the  present  portrait  as  if  it  were  still  in  the  San  Telmo  Palace, 
at  Seville. 

In  this  portrait  we  note  that  the  eyes  are  cold  and  deep-set  in  the 
sockets,  the  chin  hard,  the  lips  compressed  like  a  vise.  Although  master- 
ful in  expression,  the  face  is  full  of  intelligence  and  dignity.  There  is 
a  look  of  jealousy  and  mistrust,  but  that  need  not  surprise  us,  as  there 
was  little  difference  between  the  freedom  of  the  gitanas,  in  the  lowest 
quarters  of  the  town,  and  the  behaviour  of  men  and  women  who,  "laden 
with  official  distinctions  and  honour,  tried  to  kill  time  in  the  palaces  of 
the  capital."  The  Queen  is  no  enigma,  no  jemme  incomprise,  no  "un- 
charted sea,"  like  her  rival  the  Duchess  of  Alba,  but  is  one  who  will 
command  and  be  obeyed.  In  any  other  period  of  Spanish  life  she  would 
have  been  an  impossible  figure;  but,  as  the  product  of  her  own  time,  she 
needs  no  excuse.  Her  very  defects  have  contributed  to  this  highly  artistic 
achievement  at  the  hands  of  Goya. 


JOSEPH  MALLORD  WILLIAM  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  iyy^-i8^i 

BORN  in  humble  circumstances  on  St.  George's  Day  in 
^  London,  he  entered  the  Royal  Academy  Schools  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  and  in  the  following  year  exhibited  for 
the  first  time.  During  his  self-apprenticeship,  he  was  per- 
mitted by  Dr.  Monro  to  make  copies  for  instructional  pur- 
poses of  drawings  in  his  collection.  For  a  time  he  practised 
as  an  itinerant  topographical  draughtsman,  and  by  a  process 
of  self-evolution  alongside  of  Thomas  Girtin  (i 775-1 802) 
and  J.  R.  Cozens,  came  to  develop  a  free  landscape  art  in  wa- 
ter-colour. It  was  not  until  later  that  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  oil  medium,  and  gradually  perfected  his  style  by  consult- 
ing the  methods  and  improving  upon  the  manner  of  Claude, 
Cuyp,  Van  de  Velde,  Rubens,  Titian  and  other  landscape  and 
marine  painters.  Not  only  did  he  study  more  or  less  succes- 
sively the  works  of  those  artists,  but  he  even  "looked  at"  a  few 
of  his  contemporaries.    Elected  Associate  of  the  Academy  in 

1:243 


THE  RED  ROOM 


1799  and  a  full  Royal  Academician  in  1802,  he  was  in  1807 
elected  Professor  of  Perspective.  Those  duties  he  took  up  re- 
luctantly, but  being  ever  arduous  he  applied  himself  with  zeal 
to  the  work  he  had  undertaken. 

In  1802  he  made  his  first  tour  on  the  Continent,  and  five 
years  later  he  embarked  upon  the  "Liber  Studiorum";  al- 
though a  magnificent  monument  to  his  genius,  it  failed  in  other 
respects  after  dragging  on  until  18 19.  In  that  year  he  first 
visited  Italy,  where  he  found,  especially  in  Venice,  material  ex- 
actly suited  to  his  requirements. 

On  his  water-colour  drawing  of  "The  Lake  of  Brienz"  in 
this  collection  (No.  87)  he  took  pride  in  inscribing  "R.A."  and 
"P.P."  after  his  name  and  the  date  of  1809.  When  he  resigned 
those  duties  in  1837,  he  had  long  ceased  to  lecture  as  Professor 
of  Perspective.  He  had  a  strange  reverence  for  the  trappings 
and  mummery  of  the  academic  world,  its  diplomas  and  privi- 
leges, and  to  the  end  his  ambition  was  to  write  himself  down 
as  President  of  the  Royal  Academy. 

While  paying  homage  to  nature  he  transposed  it,  and  per- 
haps on  that  account  he  had  a  strong  objection  to  part  with  any 
of  his  sketches  or  other  hurried  memoranda.  He,  in  fact, 
deemed  it  unfair  that  the  public  should  either  see  or  possess 
any  but  his  finished  pictures.  As  topographical  draughtsman, 
painter  of  the  sublime,  painter  of  the  sea,  and  interpreter  of 
both  the  simplicity  and  gorgeous  aspects  of  nature,  he  demands 
our  sustained  study.  In  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  however, 
his  works  betoken  both  mental  and  physical  decay.  He  died 
unmarried,  under  an  assumed  name,  at  a  house  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Thames  at  Chelsea  in  1851.  Like  other  great  mas- 
ters, such  as  Leonardo  da  Vinci  and  Rembrandt,  he  toiled  in- 
cessantly to  find  out  his  facts  and  to  acquire  information  of  a 
varied  kind,  not  for  its  own  sake  but  that  he  might  advance  his 
art  by  a  sounder  application  of  the  laws  involved  in  his  study  of 
nature.  His  will  and  the  codicils  were  set  aside  by  an  Order 
of  the  Court  of  Chancery.  Thus  the  British  nation,  without 
observing  the  intentions  of  the  testator  and  the  very  explicit 

L^s2 


THE  RED  ROOM 

conditions  he  laid  down,  obtained  the  pictures  that  place  him  in 
the  forefront  of  the  world's  creative  artists  of  no  matter  what 
age.  In  addition  to  numerous  oil  pictures,  the  nation  thus  be- 
came possessed  of  drawings,  sketches,  memoranda  and  "pieces 
of  paper"  upon  which  he  had  worked,  which  amount  in  the 
aggregate  to  20,098.  The  justice  of  Ruskin's  dictum  still 
stands:  "The  nation  buried  Turner  with  threefold  honour: 
Turner's  body  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  his  pictures  at  Charing 
Cross,  and  his  purposes  in  Chancery." 

The  events  of  Turner's  life,  his  unending  travels,  his 
ceaseless  labours,  his  strange  personal  appearance,  his  eccen- 
tricities, and  even  the  cut  and  shape  of  his  trousers,  have  oc- 
cupied the  attention  of  numerous  biographers  and  analysts. 
Consequently  we  can  to-day  with  difficulty  judge  of  Turner  the 
artist,  as  distinct  from  Turner  the  mortal.  The  critics  of  other 
times,  such  as  Thornbury  and  Hamerton,  had  the  temerity  to 
pronounce  as  morose,  slatternly  and  self-indulgent  the  one  man 
who  saw  nature  in  relation  and  subjection  to  the  human  soul. 
Such  an  one  did  not  lose  time  "mooning  about  like  a  modern 
artist,"  looking  for  unexpected  beauties:  he  was  satisfied  to 
reproduce  nature  in  its  finest  essence  from  the  material,  how- 
ever unpromising  it  would  have  appeared  to  some,  that  he 
chanced  to  encounter.  It  is  obvious  that  the  names  of  Turner 
and  Ruskin  will  ever  be  inseparably  connected:  the  subject  is 
large  and  complex.  Turner  could  not  have  been  born  an 
American,  as  there  is  no  twilight  here  that  might  have  inspired 
him. 

No.  7    Old  London  Bridge  ( ''The  Port  of  London'') . 

A  busy  scene,  looking  up  stream.  Fishing  boats,  containing 
numerous  figures  in  resplendent  attire,  approach  the  quay  ad- 
joining Billingsgate  Fish  Market.  Some  of  the  fishermen  have 
already  unloaded  their  catch  on  to  the  steps  in  the  right  fore- 
ground. In  the  left  foreground  is  a  large  buoy  inscribed:  "Port 
of  London,  1825"  (the  last  two  figures  are  not  very  easy 


THE  RED  ROOM 


to  decipher).  We  look  across  the  then  clear  waters  of  the 
river  to  Old  London  Bridge,  which  occupies  the  middle  dis- 
tance, with  its  central  span  larger  than  the  others.  In  the  left 
distance,  and  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  above  bridge,  the 
tower  of  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark,  is  dimly  seen. 

Canvas,  39^  inches  by  50  inches.  (i.oox  1.27) 

Painted  in  1825. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  John  Heugh,  of  Holmewood,  and  sold  at 
Christie's,  April  24,  1874  (No.  186),  when  it  was  said  to  have  been 
"painted  about  1830." 

Subsequently  in  the  collection  of  H.  W.  F.  Bolckow,  of  Marton  Hall, 
Middlesborough,  and  lent  by  him  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  1885  (No. 
194).  It  was  commented  upon  in  the  Athenaum,  January  10,  1885, 
page  56,  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Bolckow's  'Old  London  Bridge'  (No.  194)  is  a  lovely  study 
of  colour  and  light  by  Turner;  but,  as  usual,  one  must  not  venture 
to  test  its  fidelity  to  the  view  it  represents." 

Included  in  the  sale  of  the  Bolckow  Collection  at  Christie's,  May  5, 
1888  (No.  68).  It  drew  forth  the  following  comment  in  the  Times  of 
May  2,  1888: 

"No  collection  of  modern  pictures  in  the  north  of  England  is  more 
celebrated  than  that  formed  by  the  late  Mr.  Bolckow,  the  well- 
known  Middlesborough  ironmaster.  His  name  and  that  of  his  part- 
ner, Mr.  Vaughan,  are  associated  with  the  transformation  of  Cleve- 
land from  a  pastoral  into  a  mining  region;  and  their  firm  naturally 
took  the  first  fruits  of  the  wealth  which,  thirty  or  forty  years  ago, 
began  to  come  into  existence  through  the  energy  of  themselves  and 
brother  capitalists.  Mr.  Bolckow,  following  the  example  of  the 
cotton  lords  of  Lancashire,  spent  much  of  his  wealth  upon  fine  pic- 
tures, and  in  a  short  time  the  Marton  Hall  Gallery  became  famous. 
For  some  reason  it  has  been  decided  by  his  heirs  and  executors  to 
sell  the  collection,  and  the  pictures  are  now  on  view  at  Messrs. 
Christie's.  .  .  .  Speaking  first  of  the  pictures,  we  may  mention  those 
of  most  striking  excellence.  Turner's  Xondon  Bridge,'  though  not 
a  picture  of  the  first  importance,  is  an  interesting  example.  .  .  ." 


THE  RED  ROOM 


The  same  newspaper  five  days  later  described  how 

"The  great  sale  of  the  season — the  collection  of  modern  pictures 
formed  by  the  late  Mr.  Bolckow,  M.P. — came  off  on  Saturday  with 
success  in  high  prices  and  with  such  enthusiastic  interest  on  the  part 
of  the  public  who  follow  these  events  of  the  fine  art  world,  as  quite 
came  up  to  the  expectations  created  by  the  exhibition  during  the  week 
of  so  many  pictures  of  first-rate  importance.  The  ante-room  was 
filled  an  hour  before  the  time  by  a  crowd  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
eager  for  the  opening  of  the  door  of  the  large  salesroom." 

Sir  Walter  Armstrong  in  his  "Turner,"  1902,  page  224,  refers  in  this 
connection  to  a  drawing  in  the  Jones  Bequest  to  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum  which,  he  claims,  is  of  "circa  1825."  That  drawing  is  stated  in 
the  official  catalogue  of  that  Museum,  1908,  page  361  (No.  522,  1882), 
under  the  title  of  "The  Port  of  London"  (11^  inches  by  17^  inches), 
to  be  "signed,  and  dated  1824."    It  was  engraved  by  E.  Goodall. 

Sir  Walter,  writing  privately  on  the  subject  of  this  painting  some  years 
ago,  justly  described  it  as  "a  well  known,  very  fine  and  characteristic 
picture  of  Turner's  middle  and  best  period"  and  "one  which  any  collector 
might  be  proud  to  own." 

Art  Journal,  1888,  page  342. 

Redford:  "Art  Sales,"  1888,  Vol.  I,  page  453. 

R.  Thompson:  "Chronicles  of  Old  London  Bridge,"  1827. 

JOSEPH  MALLORD  WILLIAM  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School; 

No.  8    The  Rape  of  Europa. 

Europa  and  the  Bull  are  but  dimly  seen  in  the  middle  dis- 
tance to  the  right,  as  they  enter  the  blue  waves  that  beat  upon 
the  shore.  In  the  centre  foreground  is  a  small  group  of  Eu- 
ropa's  relatives  in  no  uncertain  manner  lamenting  her  fate.  To 
the  left  is  the  rocky  shore  seen  in  a  shimmer  of  roseate  hues. 

Canvas,  35>^  inches  by  47^  inches.  (0.90  x  1.20) 

Painted  about  1836. 


THE  RED  ROOM 

The  beauty  of  Europa,  daughter  of  Agenor,  King  of  Phoe- 
nicia, was  so  remarkable  that  it  won  the  love  of  Jupiter,  who 
first  saw  her  gathering  spring  buds  near  Sidon.  In  order  to 
possess  her,  he  changed  himself  into  a  white  bull  and  appeared 
in  that  disguise  on  the  shores  of  the  sea  where  she  was  strolling 
with  her  companions.  Europa,  attracted  by  the  beauty  and 
gentleness  of  the  animal,  ventured  to  mount  upon  his  back, 
whereupon  he  plunged  into  the  sea  with  his  lovely  prize  and 
swam  to  the  Isle  of  Crete,  where  she  bore  him  Minos  and  two 
other  sons.  Agenor  commanded  his  son  Cadmus  to  go  in 
search  of  Europa,  his  sister,  and  not  to  return  without  her. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Walter  R.  Cassels,  by  whom  it  was  ex- 
hibited at  the  Guildhall,  1899,  No.  25. 

The  Art  Journal,  1899,  page  129,  dealing  with  "The  Turner  Exhibi- 
tion at  the  Guildhall,"  stated : 

"The  National  Gallery  in  its  fine  assemblage  of  oil  paintings  which 
Turner  bequeathed  to  the  nation,  placed  together  in  the  Turner  room, 
exhibits,  as  every  one  knows,  an  expression  of  Turner's  art  ranging 
very  nearly  over  the  whole  term  of  his  practice;  but  the  collection  at 
the  Guildhall,  while  also  doing  this,  is  of  pictures  which  the  painter 
sold.  These  were  sold  in  many  cases  to  eager  patrons,  who  bought 
them  for  their  beauty  and  truth,  at  prices  scarcely  a  twentieth  of 
what  would  now  be  realised  for  them." 

When  sold  at  Christie's,  June  30,  1906  (No.  63),  as  the  "property  of  a 

gentleman,"  the  catalogue  stated  that 

"The  whole  expanse  is  flooded  with  golden  sunlight.  From  the 
right  blue  waters  are  seen  advancing  in  gentle  waves;  to  the  left  a 
rocky  shore  is  faintly  indicated,  and  the  distant  cliffs  are  just  per- 
ceptible. Europa  and  the  Bull  are  seen  some  distance  away  to  the 
right,  while  Europa's  sorrowing  relatives  are  in  the  centre  of  the 
picture.  Though  comparatively  near  the  spectator,  the  figures  can 
only  just  be  discerned  in  the  dazzle  of  light  that  surrounds  them." 

The  Times  of  July  2  held  that 

"The  sale  was  in  several  ways  remarkable.  .  .  .  The  highest  price, 
and  the  most  striking  advance  in  market  value,  of  the  sale  was  for  the 


THE  RED  ROOM 

picture  by  J.  M.  W.  Turner,  'The  Rape  of  Europa,'  355^  inches  by 
47>^  inches,  said  to  have  been  'painted  about  1836';  nothing  is 
known  of  its  early  history ;  it  first  appeared  at  Christie's  in  a  sale  in 
1 87 1,  the  then  owner's  name  is  given  by  Redford  as  Trater'  (but 
the  compiler  of  the  Guildhall  Exhibition  Catalogue,  1899,  states 
that  it  was  formerly  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Thomas  Agnew)  ;  it 
was  then  purchased  by  Mr.  W.  R.  Cassels  for  295  guineas,  and  was 
exhibited  by  him  at  the  Guildhall  in  1899.  On  Saturday  bidding 
started  at  1000  guineas." 

We  read  in  the  Athenaum  of  July  7,  1906,  that 

"The  sensation  of  the  day  was  Turner's  picture  with  the  title  'The 
Rape  of  Europa.'  ...  It  is  said  to  have  been  'painted  about  1836,' 
but  it  is  probably  later  than  that." 

The  critic  of  the  Cojinoisseur,  Vol.  XV,  1906,  page  262,  wrote  that 

"The  late  sale  of  the  month,  the  30th,  was  also  the  most  important, 
and  will  rank  as  one  of  the  principal  picture  dispersals  of  the  season. 
.  .  .  The  most  important  picture  in  the  sale  formed  one  of  five  lots, 
'the  property  of  a  gentleman'  {i.e.,  Mr.  Walter  R.  Cassels),  a  fine 
example  of  J.  M.  W.  Turner's  late  manner,  'The  Rape  of  Europa,' 
35^  inches  by  47^  inches,  painted  about  1836,  or  probably  later, 
the  whole  expanse  flooded  with  golden  sunlight;  .  .  .  this  picture 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Cassels  at  Christie's  in  1871  for  295  guineas." 

The  Art  Journal,  page  245,  and  the  Acadeiny,  August  25,  also  referred 
to  the  sale  of  this  important  work. 

Sir  Walter  Armstrong:  "Turner,"  1902,  page  221. 

The  splendour  here  is  Turner's  own,  and  serves  to  show  that 
he  was  always  "projecting  his  imagination  outwards  and  set- 
ting it  objective  tasks,"  as  Armstrong  phrases  it.  Here  he 
challenges  nature  rather  than  the  other  artists  whose  works  he 
had  sought  to  outmatch.  In  few  pictures  does  Turner  ap- 
proach the  manner  of  Titian  so  unmistakably  as  in  this  subject 
and  its  treatment,  but  not,  of  course,  in  composition. 

Titian's  "Rape  of  Europa,"  after  passing  out  of  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Due  d'Orleans  and  being  exhibited  publicly  in  Lon- 
don in  1798-99,  passed  through  the  collection  of  Lord  Berwick 

[30] 


THE  RED  ROOM 


into  that  of  the  Earl  of  Darnley.  The  last  named  lent  it  to  the 
British  Institution  in  1816,  No.  29,  and  to  the  Manchester  Ex- 
hibition in  1857,  No.  259.  Turner,  doubtless,  had  oppor- 
tunities of  seeing  it  before  painting  this  canvas  about  1836. 
We  know  that  Titian's  work  belongs  to  his  finest  period,  for  it 
dates  from  1 562.  On  April  26  of  that  year  Titian  wrote  from 
Venice  to  Philip  II  the  following  characteristic  letter : 

'*Most  Serene  and  Catholic  King:  With  the  help  of  the  di- 
vine Providence  I  have  at  last  finished  the  two  pictures  already 
commanded  for  your  Catholic  Majesty.  One  is  the  'Christ 
praying  in  the  Garden,'  the  other  the  'Poesy  of  Europe  car- 
ried by  the  Bull,'  both  of  which  I  send. 

Devoted  humble  servant 

TiTIANO." 

That  the  picture  passed  out  of  the  Darnley  Collection  in 
1896  into  that  of  Mrs.  J.  L.  Gardner  at  Fenway  Court,  Bos- 
ton, is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge.  It  is  to-day  the  finest 
example  of  the  art  of  Titian  on  this  continent.  That  it  was 
highly  appreciated  by  that  sound  critic  Rubens,  is  known  by  his 
copy  in  the  Madrid  Gallery  (No.  1 693 ) . 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  as  well  to  note  that  in  it  Europa  lies  at 
full  length  in  a  daring  attitude  on  the  back  of  the  Bull,  which 
advances  through  the  water  towards  the  right.  She  is  fol- 
lowed by  Cupid,  who  is  carried  by  a  dolphin.  Europa's  right 
arm  is  raised  and  throws  her  face  into  shadow,  as  she  holds  on 
anxiously  to  the  horn  of  the  Bull.  Amoretti  brandish  bows 
and  arrows  in  the  air.  Everywhere  is  blue-green  sea,  and  in 
the  distance  is  the  green  shore  from  which  the  companions  of 
the  captive  gaze  after  her  in  their  lamentations. 

But  perhaps  in  the -whole  range  of  Turner's  adaptation  of 
Titianesque  themes  to  his  poetic  purposes  none  is  more  obvious 
— when  it  has  once  been  recognized — than  the  interdependence 
of  the  circular  painting  of  "Bacchus  and  Ariadne,"  of  1840, 
the  property  of  the  London  National  Gallery  (No.  525),  on 


THE  RED  ROOM 


that  by  Titian  at  Trafalgar  Square  (No.  35).  The  fact  that 
Turner's  late,  and  not  too  well  preserved,  picture  has  long  been 
on  loan  to  the  Glasgow  Gallery  has  perhaps  militated  against 
the  observation  of  any  critic  that  the  two  principal  characters 
were  adopted  from  the  great  Venetian's  poesia.  Here  Turner 
has  had  almost  as  noble  a  Titian  original  before  him,  but  the 
outcome  of  his  study  is  seen  to  be  far  finer  in  the  present  bou- 
quet of  colour  and  majesty  of  line  than  in  the  rather  later  work 
at  Glasgow.  Turner  is  well  nigh  at  the  apogee  of  his  power 
in  our  canvas,  which  antedates  the  "Fighting  Temeraire"  by 
about  three  years. 


HE  son  of  a  doctor,  and  born  at  Dordrecht,  he  went 


while  quite  a  child  with  his  parents  to  Amsterdam,  which 


was  to  be  his  home  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  At  an 
early  age  he  studied  under  Rembrandt,  becoming  his  best  and 
most  deeply  influenced  pupil.  By  1642  he  painted,  signed  and 
dated  the  "Portrait  of  an  Old  Lady"  now  in  the  Berlin  Gallery. 
As  the  years  advanced,  he  threw  off  the  direct  influence  of  his 
master  and,  exaggerating  his  peculiarities  without  retaining  his 
superb  chiaroscuro  effects,  became  a  mere  imitator.  Although 
the  pupil  caught  the  tricks  of  costume  and  fancy  of  the  master, 
his  earthy  endeavours  lacked  the  inward  fire  of  his  spirit. 
Moreover,  the  commercial  instinct  which  beset  him  led  to  his 
working  over-hastily  and  to  his  failing  to  complete  many  of 
his  commissions.  A  large  proportion  of  his  pictures  are  signed 
and  dated.  But  those  that  came  from  his  easel,  during  the  last 
two  decades  of  his  life,  are  less  highly  esteemed  than  the  pro- 
ductions of  his  early  manhood. 


FERDINAND  BOL 

Dutch  School;  1616-1680 


THE  RED  ROOM 


No.  9    Portrait  of  the  Artist. 

Bust  length,  turned  three  quarters  to  the  left.  A  young 
man,  clean-shaven,  with  clear-cut  features.  In  reddish-brown 
coat,  with  white  linen  collar,  a  black  cloak  fastened  with  a  thin 
gold  chain,  and  a  black  cap  edged  with  pearls  and  having  a 
large  feather  in  it. 

Canvas,  22^^  inches  by  i8^  inches.  (0.57x0.46) 

L.  H.  Cust  in  the  Burlington  Magazine,  March,  191 5,  Vol.  XXVI, 
p.  256,  refers  to  this  picture  as  "the  interesting  portrait  of  Ferdinand 
Bol  by  himself,"  and  reproduces  it  side  by  side  with  "the  inferior  version 
in  the  Brunswick  Gallery."^  The  latter  is  reproduced  in  the  Klassiker 
der  Kunst  volume  on  "Rembrandt,"  1904  edition,  p.  70,  as  a  "Portrait 
of  Rembrandt,  by  himself,  of  1633";  and  in  the  1909  edition,  p.  34,  with 
the  same  attribution  and  identification,  as  being  of  1631. 

A.  Bredius,  writing  on  "Drei  friihe  Werke  von  Ferdinand  Bol"  in 
Kunstcronik,  August  21,  1914,  pp.  610-613,  reproduces  the  Cincinnati 
painting  as  "an  early  self-portrait  by  Bol,"  while  claiming  that  the  one 
at  Brunswick  is  an  "early  self-portrait  of  Bol  by  or  after  that  artist." 
( It  should  be  noted  that  in  our  portrait  the  artist  wears  a  reddish-brown 
coat,  and  his  hands  are  not  seen.  In  that  in  the  Brunswick  Gallery  (No. 
239)  he  has  a  coat  of  vivid  blue  and  a  brown  cloak,  and  his  right  hand 
is  raised  to  grasp  the  hilt  of  a  sword.  )2  .  .^.-i 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Smith's  Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1916,  Vol.  IX, 
p.  161,  No.  263,  states  that  he  "has  lately  convinced  himself  that  the 
Brunswick  picture  is  not  by  Rembrandt,  but  an  early  work  of  Govert 
Flinck  in  the  style  of  the  'Study  of  a  Head'  in  the  collection  of  Count 
Stecki.    It  was  etched  as  being  by  Philips  Konig  [jfc]."^ 

lA  misleading  statement  in  the  American  Art  Nezvs,  January  9,  1915,  gave 
rise  to  Gust's  article.  The  "Young  Samson"  is  reproduced  in  Sedelmeyer's 
"Twelfth  100  Paintings,"  No.  23. 

2  It  is  not  to  be  confused  with  Bol's  "Portrait  of  a  Man"  at  Brunswick 
(1.29  X  1.06),  No.  245  in  the  1900  Catalogue,  and  signed  by  Bol  and  dated 
1658.    As  Bol  was  forty-two  years  of  age  then,  it  cannot  represent  him. 

3  H.  de  Groot  under  that  entry  refers  to  this  portrait;  but  the  whole  point 
of  his  remarks  is  lost,  as  he  has  in  a  cross-reference  inadvertently  added  to  the 
confusion  by  mistaking  this  portrait,  by  Bol,  for  Rembrandt's  "Portrait  of  a 
Young  Man  rising  from  his  Chair,"  No.  13  in  the  Cincinnati  Collection  and 
No.  736  in  the  "Catalogue  Raisonne." 

D33 


THE  RED  ROOM 


We  may  add  that  the  Dresden  Gallery  contains  a  portrait  by  Bol  of 
a  "Young  Man  wearing  his  Hat"  (No.  1606  in  the  1912  Catalogue), 
in  which  he  is  seen  at  bust  length,  but  turned  to  the  right.  The  possi- 
bility of  its  representing  ''The  Artist  Himself,"  as  the  catalogue  falter- 
ingly  claims,  is  an  extremely  remote  one. 

In  the  Beurnonville  sale,  May,  1881,  were  the  portrait  of  Bol  by 
himself  and  the  companion  picture  of  his  wife.  They  were  later  in  the 
Hainauer  Collection.  He  is  therein  represented  in  a  yellow  robe,  brown 
mantle  and  black  velvet  cap,  and  holding  his  palette  in  his  left  hand. 

Other  portraits  of  our  artist  from  his  own  hand  are  at  Dordrecht 
(signed  and  dated  1646)  ;  in  the  Amsterdam  Museum;  and  in  the 
Albertina  at  Vienna.  In  the  portrait  of  him,  holding  a  medal,  in  the 
Van  Home  Collection,  Montreal,  he  is  two  or  three  years  younger. 

It  may  be  noted  en  passant  that  the  present  portrait  was  at  one  time 
regarded  as  the  work  of  Rembrandt.  But  it  was  bought  and  regarded 
as  a  Bol  by  Messrs.  Scott  and  Fowles,  from  whom  it  was  acquired  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft.  Sometime  later  it  was  seen,  together 
with  the  rest  of  the  collection,  at  Cincinnati,  by  Dr.  von  Bode,  who 
accepted  the  ascription  to  Bol  and  placed  the  portrait  very  high  in  the 
oeuvre  of  that  artist. 


D43 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


1 


JAN  STEEN 
Dutch  School;  i626f-i6'/g 

AT  the  moment  when  Rembrandt  was  painting  his  first  pic- 
/-^  ture  at  Leyden,  Jan  Steen  must  have  been  lying  in  his 
cradle  in  the  same  town.  Whether  he  was  a  pupil  of 
Nicholas  Knupfer  at  Utrecht  as  well  as  of  Adriaen  van  Ostade 
at  Haarlem,  and  of  Jan  van  Goyen,  whose  daughter  Marga- 
retha  he  married  as  his  first  wife,  does  not  concern  us  so  nearly 
as  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  versatile  and  technically 
proficient  of  the  Dutch  painters.  There  is  nothing  incongruous 
in  his  having  painted  quacks  and  alchemists,  domestic  scenes 
and  rustic  festivals,  seeing  that  he  leased  a  brewery  and  kept 
a  tavern  at  Delft  and  Haarlem.  Thus  it  is  the  life  of  the 
people  rather  than  representations  of  cultured  society  that 
occupied  his  time  and  gave  play  to  his  sense  of  humour;  and 
in  that  respect  he  is  to  be  distinguished  from  Metsu  and  Ter- 
borch.  Vivacious  and  prolific,  he  is  to  be  ranked  among  the 
very  greatest  genre  painters  of  his  century,  his  admiration  for 
the  devotees  of  Bacchus  and  Venus  being  alike  marked  in  his 
skilful  composition  and  inventive  gifts. 

No.  10    The  Sick  Lady  {''La  Malade  Imaginaire'') . 

Three  small  full-length  figures.  A  beautiful  woman,  about 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  is  seated  on  a  chair  in  the  centre,  her 
left  foot  resting  on  a  stool.  She  wears  a  low-cut  scarlet  dress, 
a  gray-blue  silk  bodice  edged  with  fur,  and  a  large  white  apron. 
She  leans  her  head,  enveloped  in  a  white  kerchief,  against  a 
pillow  which  is  placed  on  a  large  book  on  a  table;  the  table  is 
behind  the  lady's  back  and  has  a  dark  red  cloth  on  it;  against 
the  side  of  it  stands  a  warming-pan.  The  lady  extends  her  right 

1:37: 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


hand  to  the  physician  that  he  may  feel  her  pulse.  He  is  dressed 
in  brown,  wears  a  black  cloak  and  hat,  and  holds  gloves  in 
his  left  hand.  In  the  left  background  is  the  large  four-poster 
bed  with  dark  blue  hangings.  Near  the  bed,  and  on  the  far 
side  of  the  young  woman,  stands  a  middle-aged  woman  who, 
clad  in  brown,  is  explaining  the  case  to  the  physician.  On  the 
wall  in  the  right  background  hang  a  picture  and  a  mandolin; 
in  the  picture,  which  is  contained  in  a  gold  frame,  are  repre- 
sented "Venus  and  Adonis"  seated  on  a  bank  under  a  tree.  In 
the  right  foreground  is  an  earthenware  vessel  containing  char- 
coal.  In  the  left  foreground  is  an  open  book,  inscribed: 

"Daer  baet  geen  medisyn 
Want  het  is  minnepyn." 

(Of  no  avail  is  medicine 
Since  it  is  love-sickness.) 

Wood,  17  inches  by  14^^  inches.  (0.43x0.36) 

Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner:  "J.  Steen"  (the  J  and  S  interlaced). 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  W.  Theobald  under  the  title  of  'The 
Sick  Lady,"  and  included  in  his  sale  at  Christie's,  May  10,  185 1. 

Subsequently  in  the  collection  of  Octavius  E.  Coope,  at  Rochetts,  near 
Brentwood,  Essex,  and  sold  at  Christie's,  May  6,  1910,  No.  71. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  1914,  No.  7. 

Smith:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1842,  Supp.,  p.  478,  No.  13,  where  it  is 
claimed  that  the  picture  of  ''Venus  and  Adonis"  is  "an  allusion  to  the 
malady  of  the  lady." 

Art  Journal,  185 1,  P-  174- 

Van  Westrheene:  "Jan  Steen,"  1856,  p.  131,  No.  141,  and  there  said  to 
have  been  "bought  by  W.  Theobald  in  1842." 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1908,  Vol.  I,  No.  175, 
p.  58,  shows  that  Jan  Steen  painted  some  forty  pictures,  all  difEerently- 
composed,  of  the  "Physician's  Visit"  or  "Here  Avails  no  Medicine." 
Eight  of  such  compositions  are  reproduced  in  Gowans  and  Gray:  "The 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


Masterpieces  of  Jan  Steen."  Of  those  the  nearest  to  our  picture  is  that 
in  the  Hermitage,  Petrograd,  No.  896  (H.  de  Groot,  No.  139).  It  is 
eight  inches  higher  and  six  inches  wider  than  ours,  and  a  candlestick,  two 
books  and  a  cup  are  on  the  table  in  the  left  foreground.  In  the  Sick 
Lady"  in  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  (Catalogue,  1901, 
Vol.  I,  p.  39,  No.  89)  the  lady  is  seated  in  an  arm-chair  in  the  centre 
of  the  composition;  on  the  far  wall,  above  the  tent-shaped  bed,  hangs  a 
picture  of  ''Venus  and  Adonis,"  also  in  a  gold  frame,  and  there  is  a 
painting  of  a  ''Mulatto,"  apparently  by  F.  Hals. 

In  the  John  G.  Johnson  Collection,  bequeathed  to  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, is  a  "Doctor's  Visit"  by  Steen  (No.  510)  ;  it  has  six  figures  and  is 
quite  differently  composed;  it  came  from  the  Levy  and  Mieville  Col- 
lections. 

Illustrated  in  New  York  Evening  Post,  February  28,  1914;  and  in  the 
New  York  Tribune  and  the  New  York  Herald,  March  i,  1914. 


HIS  creator  of  the  "conversation-piece,"  and  one  of 


the  greatest  of  the  Dutch  "small  masters,"  entrances  us 


JL  by  the  fine  decorum,  the  carefully  tended  appointments 
and  the  cultured,  if  at  times  rather  prosaic,  pursuits  of  his 
sitters  and  their  environment.  Moreover,  he  works  most  hap- 
pily in  representing  scenes  on  a  small  scale  with  the  faultless 
drawing  and  sensitive  perception  that  are  required  in  the  art 
of  the  highly  accomplished  miniaturist.  Travelling  extensively 
in  England  and  in  Spain,  at  a  moment  that  the  grit  and  long 
drawn  out  resistance  of  his  countrymen  to  the  Spanish  yoke  were 
insuring  their  deliverance  from  oppression,  some  of  his  achieve- 
ments deserve  to  be  ranked  not  merely  as  technical  triumphs 
but  as  historical  documents.  Moreover,  his  life  seems  to  have 
been  passed  in  easy  circumstances,  a  fact  that  contrasts  forcibly 


GERARD  TERBORCH 

Dutch  School;  161J-16S1 


D9  3 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


with  the  unhappy  experiences  of  Rembrandt,  Hals,  Hobbema 
and  others  of  his  compatriots. 

No.  1 1    The  Sleeping  Soldier. 

The  officer,  wearing  a  steel  cuirass  over  his  buff  coat  with 
gold  lace  on  the  sleeves,  is  fast  asleep  in  the  chair.  His  arms 
are  folded  and  his  legs  crossed.  He  has  on  heavy  top-boots 
and  a  sword  hangs  at  his  side.  On  the  floor  to  the  right  lies  his 
high-crowned  hat  with  its  red  and  white  plumes.  His  lips  are 
being  tickled  with  a  feather  by  a  woman,  who  wears  a  white 
satin  dress  with  a  brown  corsage  and  bodice.  On  the  left 
stands  a  richly  dressed  trumpeter  in  a  blue  tabard  with  gray 
sleeves.  In  the  right  foreground  are  a  large  gold  ewer  and  a 
dish  on  a  table ;  in  the  left,  a  bed  with  dark  green  hangings. 

Canvas,  25^  inches  by  21  inches.  (0.64x0.53) 

In  the  collection  of  Johan  van  Tongeren,  lawyer  at  The  Hague,  and  sold 
March  24,  1692  (No.  57),  as  "Een  Slaependen  Officier  van  Terburgt" 
[sicl.  (See  Gerard  Hoet:  "Catalogus  van  Schilderyen,"  1752,  Vol.  I, 
p.  13.) 

In  the  Hoet  Collection,  Amsterdam,  and  sold  October  8,  1700  (No.  3), 
under  the  title  of  "Een  Slapende  Veld-overste  met  een  Trompetter,  etc., 
van  Gerard  Ter  Burgh."    (See  Hoet:  "Catalogus,"  Vol.  I,  p.  59-) 

In  the  Adriaen  van  Hoek  Collection,  Amsterdam,  sold  April  7,  1706 
(No.  34). 

In  the  Lormier  Collection  at  The  Hague,  December,  1754  (No.  294). 
(See  Descamps:  "La  Vie  des  Peintres,"  Vol.  II,  p.  129:  *'chez  M. 
Lormier  un  Officier  qui  dort,  une  femme  le  reveille  pour  le  faire  parler 
a  un  Trompette.") 

In  the  W.  Lormier  Collection,  The  Hague,  July  4,  1763. 

In  the  J.  C.  Pruijssenaar  Collection,  Amsterdam,  December  27,  1814 
(No.  73). 

In  the  W.  Brown  Collection,  London,  1830. 

In  the  collection  of  Viscount  Midleton,  at  Peper  Harow,  near  Go- 
dalming,  Surrey,  and  sold  at  Christie's,  July  31,  1851. 

n4oi 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Henry  Harvey,  London,  1868. 
In  the  collection  of  Mr.  William  Harvey,  1895. 
Exhibited  at  Leeds,  1868,  No.  652. 
Exhibited  at  the  Guildhall,  London,  1895,  No.  iii. 
Engraved  in  reverse  by  W.  Chevalier. 

Smith:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1833,  pt.  4,  p.  117,  No.  3,  as  ''The 
Drowsy  Soldier";  and  p.  131,  No.  43,  as  "The  Sleeping  Soldier." 

Redford:  "Art  Sales,"  1888,  Vol.  I,  pp.  146  and  464,  and  Vol.  II, 
p.  333. 

"Almost  the  principal  interest  attaches  to  those  which  come  from  two 
relatively  unknown  collections  in  the  north  of  England,  those  of 
Mr.  E.  A.  Leatham  and  Mr.  William  Harvey,  of  Leeds.  In  these 
days,  when  incessant  exhibitions  have  brought  almost  everything  to 
light,  the  amateur  has  quite  a  rare  emotion  when  he  stumbles  across 
first-rate  Dutch  pictures  that  have  not  been  shown  before;  and  such, 
if  we  mistake  not,  are  Mr.  Leatham's  'Church  Interior'  and  .  .  . 
Mr.  Harvey's  'Sleeping  Soldier'  by  Terburg." 


Burlington  Magazine,  19 10,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  191 3,  Vol.  V,  No.  77,  p.  31, 
where  it  is  erroneously  stated  that  "there  is  to  the  left  a  table  with 
straw-covered  bottles  and  candlestick." 


HE  son  of  a  peasant  and  born  at  Gruchy,  a  hamlet  of 


Greville  near  Cherbourg,  he  naturally  paints  the  peas- 


ant's  unceasing  struggle  with  the  forces  of  nature.  His 
career  naturally  splits  up  into  three  divisions,  that  of  his  early 
rudimentary  education  in  his  native  village,  the  period  of 
twelve  years  when  he  practised  his  art  training  in  Paris,  and 
the  last  twenty-six  years  of  his  life,  spent  in  the  small  village 


Times,  London,  April  22,  1895. 


JEAN  FRANCOIS  MILLET 

French  School;  iSl^-lSjS 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

of  Barbizon  on  the  edge  of  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau.  As 
early  as  1 840  one  of  the  two  pictures  that  he  sent  in  to  the  Salon 
was  accepted  and  hung,  but  passed  almost  unnoticed.  This  aca- 
demic recognition  was,  however,  to  herald  no  popular  acclama- 
tion in  the  two  decades  that  followed.  His  first  real  success  was 
not  forthcoming  until  the  Exhibition  of  1867,  when  a  number 
of  his  best  canvases  were  seen  together.  He  had  consistently 
declined  the  patronage  of  the  fashionable,  or  the  vulgar,  that 
he  might  remain  true  to  his  own  exalted  ideals  of  the  peasant 
gaining  his  livelihood  from  the  soil.  Yet  this  singleness  of 
mind  did  not  save  him  from  the  charge  that  his  pictures  were 
painted  "as  a  plea  against  the  misery  of  the  people,'*  and  were 
to  be  condemned  for  their  "propagandist  tendencies."  In 
point  of  fact,  having  painted  a  number  of  nude  studies  in  his 
early  life,  he  devoted  his  brush  at  Barbizon  to  creating  that 
profoundly  moving  record  of  outdoor  labour  that  ranks  him 
among  the  world's  great  masters.  For,  as  he  advanced,  he 
learnt  to  impart  to  scenes  of  humble,  but  never  trivial,  occu- 
pation the  monumental  grandeur  which  his  subject  matter  in- 
spired. He  was  nevertheless  regarded  with  envy  and  malice 
by  academicians  who  were  fully  conscious  of  the  fact  that  his 
rise  meant  their  fall  in  public  estimation.  This  antagonism  was 
all  but  effective  down  to  the  day  of  his  death,  which  proved 
the  occasion  for  some  to  simulate  their  grief  at  his  tomb.  Yet 
Alexandre  Dumas,  pere,  had  termed  him  a  "good,  kindly,  com- 
passionate, religious  and  honest  man."  To-day  he  is  perhaps 
more  generally  understood  than  any  other  painter. 

If  in  his  art  he  devoted  himself  to  the  pleasant  and  ever 
varying  subjects  which  he  felt  afforded  him  his  true  vocation, 
his  domestic  life  was  no  less  admirable.  His  first  wife  had 
passed  away  in  very  early  life,  but  his  second  was  a  source  of 
secret  strength  to  her  husband  from  the  outset,  being  always 
ready  to  leave  her  own  domestic  work  to  sit  to  him  as  a  model 
for  his  peasant  women.  Attentive  to  his  need,  sharing  his 
anxieties  and  sorrows,  she  lingered  on  to  die  at  Suresnes  as  late 
as  1894. 

1:423 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


No  biographer  of  Millet  fails  to  remind  us  that  his 
"Angelus"  was  sold  in  the  Secretan  sale  in  Paris  in  1889  for 
553,000  francs  to  an  American  purchaser.  It  was  bequeathed 
some  twenty  years  later  to  the  Louvre  by  M.  Chauchard. 

"I  never  studied  systematically,"  wrote  Millet,  *'and  I  never 
followed  programmes."  On  the  contrary,  he  was  wise  enough 
to  follow  his  own  line,  profess  his  own  philosophy  in  art  and 
produce  with  his  heart,  his  eyes  and  his  mind.  As  the  result, 
the  humanity  of  his  art  is  sincere.  It  is  characteristic  of  the 
man  that,  when  he  felt  his  end  near,  he  exclaimed:  "C^est  dom- 
mage.   J'aurais  pu  travailler  encore." 

No.  12    La  Maternite. 

Three-quarter-length  figure  of  a  young  peasant  woman  re- 
clining in  a  chair,  and  seen  in  full  front.  She  wears  a  yellow- 
brown  bodice  of  coarse  material,  a  brownish-gray  skirt  and  a 
close-fitting  yellow  cap.  She  inclines  her  head  towards  the  left 
and  looks  at  some  distant  object,  as  she  holds  her  sleeping 
child,  who  is  clad  in  greenish-yellow  swaddling-clothes  and  a 
white  cap.  Dark  landscape  background,  with  green  leaves 
above  to  the  left. 

Canvas,  45  inches  by  35^  inches.  (1.14x0.90) 
Painted  in  1 872-1 873. 

Signed,  in  red,  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

Included  in  the  sale  of  the  artist's  effects.  May  10,  1875  (No.  46),  as 
"Jeune  mere  bergant  son  enfant  dans  ses  bras.  Figures  de  grandeur 
naturelle."   It  was  then  bought  for  5800  francs  by  Tillot. 

Subsequently  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  George  W.  Burnett, 
in  whose  house  in  London  it  was  seen  by  Mr.  Taft  and  the  late  Mr. 
Fowles.  It  then  hung  on  an  easel  in  the  billiard-room.  Mr.  Burnett 
had,  he  said  on  July  9,  1903,  every  intention  of  bequeathing  it  to  the 
National  Gallery,  London.  However,  he  had  reason  to  change  his 
mind,  and  an  arrangement  was  made  for  the  purchase  by  Mr.  Fowles  of 
this  canvas,  together  with  Corot's  "Environs  de  Paris"  (now  No.  44  in 

1:43: 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

this  collection)  and  some  ten  other  pictures.  Those  ten  paintings  were 
subsequently  dispersed. 

"En  1872  et  en  1873  Millet  s'occupa  d'achever  quelques-unes  des  pein- 
tures  qu'il  avait  commencees  a  Cherbourg.  II  travaillait  a  plusieurs 
tableaux  a  la  fois.  Sans  parler  des  paysages  promis  a  M.  Hartmann 
et  toujours  attendus,  et  de  la  'jeune  mere  bergant  son  enfant  dans  ses 
bras'  (figures  de  grandeur  naturelle),  il  peignait  le  Trieure  de  Vau- 
ville'  pour  FAmericain  M.  Shaw^  et  bien  d'autres  tableaux  encore." 
Alfred  Sensier:  "La  Vie  de  J.  F.  Millet,"  1881,  p.  349. 

On  December  31,  1872,  he  wrote:  "My  eyes  are  very  painful.  .  .  .  I 
work  very  little,  which  distresses  me.  My  Triory'  [painted  for  Mr. 
Shaw,  as  just  mentioned]  is  in  the  same  state  as  when  you  saw  it.  .  .  . 
Here  goes  the  year  1872  where  all  the  years  have  gone."  A  charming 
way  of  saying,  "Eheu!  Anni  fugaces." 

On  the  subject  of  M.  Hartmann,  for  whom  this  picture  was  painted, 
we  may  quote  at  some  length  from  D.  Croal  Thomson's  "The  Barbizon 
School,"  1890,  p.  164: 

"The  brightest  spot  by  far  in  Rousseau's  connection  with  his  fellow 
artists  is  his  wonderful  friendship  for  Millet.  For  Diaz,  Rousseau 
had  an  affectionate  regard  more  as  between  master  and  pupil,  but  for 
Millet  he  had  the  esteem  of  a  man  and  an  equal.  Rousseau,  being  a 
strong-minded  man,  had  a  powerful  influence  over  Millet  and  all 
for  his  good.  He  constantly  encouraged  him  and  was  in  many  ways 
a  real  friend.  He  worked  very  hard  to  obtain  for  him  such  glimpses 
of  momentary  good  fortune  as  he  enjoyed.  He  would  even  sell 
Millet's  drawings  and  pictures  for  him  in  Paris,  and  he  always  intro- 
duced his  own  patrons  to  Millet.  M.  Hartmann,  of  Alsace  ( !) ,  who 
was  the  chief  patron  of  the  Barbizon  painters  in  later  years,  was  pre- 
sented by  Rousseau  to  Millet  at  the  village  [of  Barbizon]  ;  and  Hart- 
mann was  a  good  financial  friend  to  both.  Amidst  their  difficulties 
in  younger  life.  Millet  and  Rousseau  had  been  compelled  to  make 
some  awkward  engagements  with  bills  which,  failing  to  be  paid  in 
due  course,  recalled  them  to  real  life,  and  troubled  them  in  solemn 
earnest.  M.  Hartmann  frequently  interfered.  He  often  stopped  ac- 
tions on  the  bills;  he  bought  them  up  from  their  unrelenting  cred- 
itors; and  then,  little  by  little,  brought  back  again  calmness  into  the 
life  of  the  two  friends.  It  was  in  Millet's  arms  that  Rousseau  died." 
1  Lately  added  to  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  ' 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


D.  Croal  Thomson,  who  reproduces  this  picture  in  his  book  at  p.  240, 
adds,  two  pages  further  on : 

"In  1868,  M.  F.  Hartmann,  of  Munster  in  Alsace,  gave  Millet 
several  important  commissions,  and  in  September  the  artist  made  a 
journey  to  Alsace  to  see  his  patron,  as  well  as  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health.  On  his  return,  he  came  round  by  Switzerland,  visiting  Basle, 
its  cathedral,  and  its  museum  with  the  works  of  Hans  Holbein;  also 
Lucerne,  Berne  and  Zurich.  Rousseau  had  introduced  Hartmann  to 
Millet  at  Barbizon,  and  Hartmann  frequently  acted  as  the  good 


genius  of  the  two  artists  in  saving  them  from  relentless  creditors." 
Soullie:  '7.  F.  Millet,"  1900,  p.  60. 


''Among  the  other  pictures  on  which  he  was  engaged,  were  his  'Woman 
sewing  by  Candlelight,'  his  Teasant  Woman  feeding  Turkeys,'  and 
his  'Young  Mother  nursing  her  Child,'  sometimes  called  'La  Ma- 
ternite,'  a  life-size  picture  for  which  his  daughter,  Madame  Hey- 
mann,  sat  to  him." 


M.  Heymann,  Millet's  son-in-law,  possessed  several  of  Millet's  most 
interesting  drawings. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  put  forward  any  view  as  to  the  genesis  and 
elaboration  of  the  elements  in  this  composition.  But  they  seem  to  be 
contained,  not  as  here  rendered,  in  the  crayon  study  of  "The  Mother  and 
Child"  formerly  in  the  possession  of  E.  van  Wisselingh.  It  is  repro- 
duced, plate  M.  24,  in  Arsene  Alexandre's  "Millet,"  published  by  the 
International  Studio  in  1 903. 


EMBRANDT  HARMENSZ  VAN  RIJN,  whose  art 


"is  not  for  an  age  but  for  all  time,"  was  born,  as  his 


^  name  shows,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine — or  rather  the 
Maas — at  Leyden.  It  suited  Ruskin  to  state  that  ''Rem- 
brandt's aim  was  to  paint  the  foulest  things — by  rushlight." 


Julia  Cartwright:  "J.  F.  Millet,"  1902,  p.  332. 


REMBRANDT 
Dutch  School;  i6o6-i66g 


11451 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

But  a  more  reasoned  view  would  show  him  as  a  many-sided  and 
profoundly  creative  genius,  who  had  the  resourcefulness  to 
raise  the  most  commonplace  motives  to  a  higher  plane  of  sen- 
timent and  pathos,  reflection  and  wide  vision.  A  just  appre- 
ciation may  be  formed  from  the  hundred  examples  of  his  art, 
originating  in  1626  and  extending  down  to  within  a  few  months 
of  his  death,  that  are  now  in  this  country.  In  his  earliest  years 
members  of  his  own  family  served  him  as  a  model,  and  he 
portrayed  them  in  various  characters.  Until  1634  he  had  to 
compete  with  his  prosperous  and  somewhat  objective  rival, 
Thomas  de  Keyser,  but  from  such  professional  trammels  and 
irksome  restrictions  he  managed  to  free  himself  at  the  moment 
of  his  marriage  to  the  wealthy  Saskia.  Become  independent 
of  exacting  patrons,  he  painted  with  more  insight,  treating  a 
variety  of  subjects  and  handling  his  chiaroscuro  with  ever- 
deepening  mystery  of  effect.  Before  long  the  influence  of  do- 
mestic bereavement  was  reflected  in  his  choice  of  subject,  for 
he  gave  himself  up  to  grave  and  penetrating  themes  to  rid 
himself  of  the  mental  anguish  through  which  he  passed.  In 
time  his  manner  of  life  offended  the  susceptibilities  of  the  ultra- 
moral  section  of  the  inhabitants  of  Amsterdam.  Before  long 
he  was  declared  a  bankrupt  and  his  most  treasured  possessions 
dispersed.  Yet  his  art  continued  to  mature  year  by  year,  and 
so  little  unnerved  was  he  by  mere  worldly  afflictions  that  he 
continued  to  produce  masterpieces  which  show  the  stupendous 
power  of  his  genius.  Subjective  and  many-sided,  he  did  not 
lose  himself  in  the  infinite.  Nor  did  he  paint,  as  did  so  many  of 
his  contemporaries,  merely  what  his  eye  saw.  Nothing  could 
cloud  the  spiritual  beauty,  the  simplicity  and  the  luminosity  of 
his  achievement;  and  so,  as  a  painter  of  religious  subjects,  he 
brought  the  Bible  story  into  human  life.  Thus  passed  away 
"the  son  of  Herman,  the  son  of  Gerrit,  the  son  of  Roelof," 
owning  nothing  but  the  clothes  he  was  actually  wearing  and  the 
paint-brushes  he  used  up  to  the  very  end.  This  mystic  painter 
and  etcher  was  the  most  profound  and  soul-searching  master  in 
a  century  which  produced  Hals  and  Velazquez,  Rubens  and 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

Van  Dyck.  He  is  thus  a  precursor  of  modern  art  in  its  finest 
and  widest  expression. 

No.  13    Portrait  of  a  Young  Man  rising  from  his  Chair. 

Three-quarter-length  figure  of  a  young  man  in  black-figured 
robe,  with  a  girdle  having  four  black  bows  and  fastened  with 
tags,  a  flat  lace  collar  and  cuffs,  and  large  black  hat.  He  holds 
his  glove  in  his  right  hand,  as  he  rises  from  the  chair  which, 
upholstered  in  dark  red,  is  dimly  seen  in  the  left  background. 
The  palm  of  his  left  hand  is  shown  and  the  fingers  are  ex- 
tended.  Dark  gray  background. 

Canvas,  50  inches  by  40  inches.  (i-27  x  i.oi) 

Signed  and  dated  low  down  on  the  right  below  the  left  hand:  **Rem- 
brandt,  F  1633." 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Ashburnham,  and  sold  July  20,  1850. 

Subsequently  in  the  Pourtales-Gorgier  Collection,  Paris,  March  27, 
1865,  No.  181,  as  "Portrait  d'un  bourguemestre,"  and  stated  to  have 
been  bought  from  Farrer,  the  London  picture-dealer. 

In  the  collection  of  Comte  E.  de  Pourtales,  by  whom  it  was  lent  to  the 
Rembrandt  Exhibition  at  Amsterdam,  1898  (No.  24). 

Exhibited  on  loan  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  4,  and  in  1914, 
No.  4.  This  portrait  is  claimed  to  be  the  pendant  to  that  of  "The 
Young  Lady  with  a  Fan"  (Bode,  No.  lOi),  circa  1633,  which  was 
shown  at  Burlington  House  in  1898  (No.  55). 

Smith:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1836,  pt.  7,  p.  120,  No.  332,  as  "A  Gen- 
tleman of  about  thirty-two  years  of  age." 

Vossmaer:  "Rembrandt:  La  Vie  et  ses  CEuvres,"  1877,  p.  500. 

Bode:  "Complete  Work  of  Rembrandt,"  1897,  Vol.  II,  p.  80,  No.  100, 

refers  to  this  picture : 

"The  big  portrait  of  a  'Young  Man'  of  the  Pourtales  Collection 
is,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  most  important  and  most  attractive  portraits 
painted  by  Rembrandt  at  his  earlier  time  in  Amsterdam.  The  mar- 
vellous state  makes  it  still  more  important." 

1:473 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

Dutuit,  No.  224. 

Klassiker  der  Kunst:  "Rembrandt,"  1909,  p.  96. 

Valentiner:  "Art  of  the  Low  Countries,"  19 14,  p.  244. 

The  Times,  December  31,  1898,  referring  to  the  Rembrandt  Exhibition 
held  at  Burlington  House  in  the  first  months  of  1899,  says: 

"We  are  flying  in  the  face  of  chronology  in  here  calling  attention 
to  another  picture,  which  occupies  one  of  the  corners  in  this  Great 
Room,  but  it  may  be  grouped  with  the  others  as  a  novelty  to  London ; 
for  we  are  not  sure  whether  Lord  Leconfield  has  ever  before  allowed 
it  to  leave  Petworth.  This  is  the  Tortrait  of  a  Lady'  (No.  55),  a 
three-quarter  figure,  dated  1635,  the  picture  which  Dr.  Bode  has 
with  great  probability  claimed  as  the  companion  to  the  'Young  Man' 
in  the  Pourtales  Collection  in  Paris.  It  is  a  pity  that,  as  the  Comte 
de  Pourtales  lent  his  picture  to  Amsterdam,  it  could  not  also  have 
been  borrowed  by  the  Academy.  In  that  case  we  could  have  seen  the 
lady  and  gentleman  side  by  side,  and  undone  for  a  moment  the 
divorce  wrought  by  chance  and  the  auction  room.  Whatever  may 
be  the  facts  as  to  their  relationship,  the  lady  is  one  of  the  few  beauties 
ever  painted  by  Rembrandt ;  she  is,  in  fact,  probably  the  most  comely 
creature  in  the  whole  range  of  Dutch  art,  and,  though  the  composi- 
tion of  the  figure  and  the  attitude  are  a  little  stiff,  as  is  usual  with 
the  master's  works  of  this  early  date,  the  painting  of  the  details,  and 
especially  of  the  lace  collar,  shows  that  he  had  already  arrived  at  a 
technical  mastery  far  beyond  any  of  his  contemporaries,  including  the 
great  De  Keyser,  to  whom  his  art  owed  so  much." 

"Here  is  a  Rembrandt,  for  example,  in  an  earlier  manner  full  of  the  re- 
finement of  considerable  detail,  showing  a  young  man  rising  from  his 
chair.  He  is  in  somber  black  and  extends  one  hand  in  a  natural  atti- 
tude, and  he  is  full  of  humanity.  Indeed,  humanity  is  the  key-note 
of  the  figures  here.  You  are  convinced  at  a  glance  that  you  are  look- 
ing at  the  personages  themselves  all  through  this  exhibition,  particu- 
larly in  the  case  of  this  young  man  by  Rembrandt." 

International  Studio,  1910,  Vol.  XXXIX,  pp.  Ixxi,  plate  73. 

Putnam's  Magazine,  February,  19 10,  p.  526. 

Burlington  Magazine,  1910,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  364. 

Connoisseur,  191 3,  Vol.  XXXVI,  p.  261. 

C483 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


Reproduced  in  the  New  York  Herald,  March  1,1914.    It  is  there 

referred  to  as  follows: 

*'As  a  caller  enters  the  Exhibition  at  the  Scott  and  Fowles  Gal- 
leries a  very  affable  'Young  Man'  will  rise  from  his  chair  to  greet 
him,  extend  his  hand  and  smile  a  welcome  and  then  start  to  step 
down  from  the  gilt  enclosure  about  him.  He  can  go  no  further,  but 
it  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  see  him  descend  from  the 
canvas  where  Rembrandt  put  him  and  walk  up  to  the  visitor.  Who 
he  is,  the  delvers  into  the  past  have  not  ascertained.  He  lives  and 
breathes;  his  face,  with  its  rounded  chin,  seems  to  have  no  contact 
with  the  canvas,  and  his  hands  are  enveloped  in  air.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  attractive  portraits  that  Rembrandt  ever  painted.  It  was 
formerly  in  the  Pourtales  Collection  and  is  in  a  marvellous  state  of 
preservation.    Its  signature  by  the  artist  has  the  date  of  1633." 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1916,  Vol.  VI,  No.  736. 


'AN  DYCK,  having  been  apprenticed  to  Hendrik  van 


Balen  at  the  age  of  ten,  worked  in  the  studio  of  Rubens 


▼  from  1 61 5  to  1620.  It  is  not  always  realized  that,  at  this 
early  moment  in  his  career,  the  pupil  was  so  precocious  that  he 
may  be  said  to  have  been  from  time  to  time  the  instructor  of  his 
master,  who  was,  in  fact,  twenty-two  years  his  senior.  So  much 
so  that  the  works  of  the  pupil  at  this  early  period  are  at  times 
to  be  distinguished  from  those  of  Rubens  only  by  their  flesh 
tints,  the  drawing  of  the  hands,  the  gray  shadows,  the  pose  of 
the  figures  and  other  technical  peculiarities.  His  first  journey 
to  England  in  1 620-1 621  was  brief;  for,  being  unappreciated, 
he  left  in  disgust.  Fortunately  he  soon  left  Antwerp  for  Italy, 
visiting  in  succession  Rome,  Florence,  Bologna,  Venice  and 
Mantua.  After  studying  the  works  of  the  great  Italian 
masters  in  those  cities,  he  settled  in  Genoa  in  1624.  There 
he  had  the  good  fortune,  as  well  for  his  contemporaries  as 


SIR  ANTHONY  VAN  DYCK 

Flemish  School;  i^gg-1641 


1:493 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

for  the  student  of  to-day,  to  exercise  his  gift  of  portraiture. 
In  such  a  setting  those  portraits  had  a  reality  which  they  are 
apt  to  lose  when  hung  under  disadvantageous  conditions.  In  the 
vast  expanse  of  a  Genoese  palazzo  they  have  the  dignified  air, 
the  easy  and  almost  effortless  appearance  of  instantaneous 
creation.  The  glamour  and  aroma  of  their  presence  only 
heighten  the  gift  of  the  great  portrait  painter,  and  show  his 
wisdom  in  adapting  the  scale  of  his  canvases  to  the  environment 
they  were  to  maintain  for  two  or  three  centuries ;  for  until  the 
early  nineteenth  century  many  of  such  paintings  still  hung  in 
their  original  homes  in  Genoa,  as  reference  to  the  "Guida"  of 
Ratti  will  show. 

Back  in  Antwerp  in  1628,  and  in  England  again  four  years 
later,  he  became  Portrait  Painter  in  Ordinary  to  their  Majesties. 
Who  knows  not  something  of  the  long  series  of  masterpieces 
painted  for  Charles  I?  Windsor  Castle  and  the  private  col- 
lections of  England  contain  the  imposing  portraits  of  well-bred 
sitters  eminently  suited  to  decorate  and,  as  it  were,  to  people 
sumptuous  palaces.  There  is  no  straining  after  effect,  no  cold 
calculation  to  impress  the  spectator.  Although  they  wear  gor- 
geous apparel,  the  full  range  of  their  mentality  is  not  impaired. 
It  remained  for  his  followers  and  imitators,  in  their  profes- 
sional business,  to  paint  the  lack-lustre  eye  and  the  cheek  of 
cream  that  betoken  the  court  beauties  of  Charles  II's  reign. 
The  aristocratic  distinction  which  is  the  hall-mark  of  his  Geno- 
ese portraiture  is  seen  again  in  his  treatment  of  religious  sub- 
jects, and  in  many  of  such  works  we  recall  the  invention  and 
golden  warmth  of  Titian.  If  his  portraits  lack  the  analytical 
veracity  of  the  Swiss-born  Holbein,  and  are  less  profound  and 
penetrative  than  those  by  Rembrandt,  they  were  occasioned  by 
different  national  requirements  and,  especially  when  they  pos- 
sess more  dignity  than  those  of  Rubens,  are  more  characteristic 
of  an  age  of  courtly  bearing.  Perhaps  it  is  the  entire  lack  of 
such  an  atmospherq,  in  these  democratic  times,  that  has  again 
earned  for  these  relics  of  the  past  the  just  appreciation  which 
they  did  not  always  call  forth  in  the  eighteenth  century.    It  is. 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

of  course,  necessary  to  distinguish  such  works  from  the  factory- 
like output  of  the  studio  and  the  commercial  activity  of  the 
pseudo-replica  monger.  The  master  himself  was  one  of  the 
great  technicians,  and  his  method  is  an  abiding  inspiration  to 
modest  artists,  who,  however,  can  do  little  more  than  stand 
mute  in  contemplation. 

No.  14    Portrait  of  Paolina  Adorno,  Marchesa  di 
Brignole  Sale. 

Full-length,  more  than  life-size  portrait  of  a  young  lady  of 
noble  birth,  in  an  ample,  rich,  brown-black  dress,  which  is 
trimmed  with  several  rows  of  golden  brown  embroidery,  with 
full  lace  ruff  or  collar  and  cuffs.  In  her  right  hand,  which  has 
a  diamond  ring  on  the  index  finger,  she  holds  her  fan,  while 
her  left  falls  by  her  side  and  touches  a  little  brown  dog  that  is 
sitting  on  a  red  cushion  on  a  red-upholstered  arm-chair.  She 
wears  a  large  rope  of  pearls,  and  pearls  are  in  her  hair,  in 
which,  near  her  left  ear,  is  a  red  rose.  An  architectural  setting, 
with  a  column  on  the  left  and  a  dark  red  curtain  hanging 
high  up. 

Canvas,  88  inches  by  58  inches.  (2.23  x  1.47) 

Paolina  (or  Paola)  Adorno  was  the  only  child  born  to  Giambattista 
Adorno  by  his  first  wife,  Paola  di  Giacomo  Spinola.  She  married  the 
Marchese  Anton  Giulio,  son  of  Gianfrancesco  Brignole  Sale,  a  Doge 
of  Genoa  and  Ambassador  to  Philip  IV  of  Spain.  Anton  Giulio  was 
"Marchese  e  poeta"  and  his  equestrian  portrait  of  Van  Dyck  (2.86 
X  1.98),  in  the  Palazzo  Rosso^  at  Genoa,  was  painted  about  1621-23. 
The  Adorni  were,  however,  merchants;  they  had  branch  houses  at 
Bruges  and  in  Spain.  The  ladies  of  the  Brignole  Sale  family  were  es- 
sentially benefactresses. 

1  The  Palazzo  Rosso  was  formerly  the  property  of  the  Brignole  Sale  family; 
it  to-day  contains  the  Galleria  Brignole  Sale  Deferrari.  It  is  now  No.  18  in 
the  Via  Garibaldi,  and  therefore  near  the  Palazzo  Bianco,  No.  13  in  the  same 
street,  which  also  was  once  in  the  possession  of  the  Brignole  Sale  family.  Near 
by  is  No.  10,  the  Palazzo  Adorno.  Thus  this  portrait  calls  forth  historic  mem- 
ories of  Genoa  and  its  illustrious  patrician  families. 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

Giambattista  Adorno,  the  father  of  the  lady  here  represented,  was 
Senator-Governor  in  1621  and  in  1632.  In  1626  he  was  Senator-Proc- 
urator. By  his  second  wife,  Violante  di  Cesare  Longhi-Giustiniani,  he 
had  four  sons  and  two  daughters:  (i)  Giambattista;  (2)  Agostino; 
(3)  Michele;  (4)  Filippo,  who  married  Anna  di  Luca  Longhi-Gius- 
tiniani; (5)  Francesca,  who  married  Niccolo  di  Antonio  Spinola;  and 
(6)  Emilia,  who  married  Giambattista  di  Gianantonio  Raggio.^ 

Giambattista,  the  eldest  of  these  sons,  married  Caterina  di  Cesare 
Durazzo,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters ;  of  these  children 
only  one,  Agostino,  was  married.  It  seems  probable  that  this  branch  of 
the  family  inherited  the  portrait  before  us. 

Giambattista's  wife,  Caterina,  was  also  painted  by  Van  Dyck;  the 
portrait  of  her,  as  the  Marchesa  Durazzo,  hangs  in  the  Royal  Palace  at 
Genoa.  In  it  she  is  represented  with  her  right  hand  on  the  edge  of  a 
fountain,  and  holding  a  fan  in  her  left.  She  is,  moreover,  therein  dressed 
almost  exactly  as  is  Paolina  Adorno  in  our  portrait.  She  was  painted 
also  by  Van  Dyck  with  two  of  her  children  in  the  picture  now  in  the 
Palazzo  Durazzo,  Genoa  (Klassiker  der  Kunst,  p.  180). 

Paolina  Adorno  was  more  than  once  painted  by  Van  Dyck.  The  por- 
trait of  her  in  the  Palazzo  Rosso  (No.  14),  measuring  9  feet  5  inches 
by  6  feet  6  inches,  was,  according  to  Ratti,  in  the  Brignole  Sale  Gallery 
in  1780.  It  is  reputed  to  have  been  painted  in  one  night,  after  a  ball  at 
the  Casa  Doria  at  which  Van  Dyck  had  conceived  a  sudden  and  violent 
passion  for  the  "bella  Genovese."  It  was  restored  in  1902.^  The  com- 
panion portrait  of  her  husband  also  hangs  in  the  "Red  Palace,"  and  is 
No.  5  in  its  Catalogue. 

Another  portrait  of  Paolina,  in  a  diiferent  dress  and  differently  posed 
as  she  moves  to  the  left,  was  in  the  collection  of  the  late  Duke  of  Aber- 
corn  at  Hampton  House.  It  was  exhibited  at  the  Grafton  Galleries  in 
1909-1910,  No.  58. 

Included  in  the  same  exhibition  for  a  brief  period  in  1909  (No.  55) 
was  the  portrait  group,  now  in  the  gallery  of  Mr.  Joseph  E.  Widener, 
at  Elkins  Park,  Philadelphia,  of  Paolina  together  with  her  son.  The 
Catalogue  of  the  Widener  Collection,  1913,  No.  53,  states  that  "it  has 
been  questioned  whether  the  picture  represents  Paola  [or  Paolina] 

2  The  pedigree  of  the  Adorno  di  Genova  family  is  given  by  Litta :  "Famiglie 
Celebri  Italiane,"  pt.  120  (usually  bound  up  in  Vol.  I)  ;  Tavola  III  concerns 
us  most. 

3  See  "Connoisseur,"  May,  1903,  Vol.  VI,  p.  30. 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


Adorno  or  another  member  of  the  Brignole  Sale  family.  ...  It  seems 
that  this  picture  is  also  a  portrait  of  her.  She  wears  the  same  jewelry, 
the  chain  and  the  headdress." 

Parenthetically  we  may  observe  that  the  Christian  name  of  our  young 
lady  is  given  by  Litta  and  by  most  writers  as  Paola.  Yet  modern  Ital- 
ian writers  prefer  to  describe  her  as  Paolina,  and  this  seems  the  more 
correct  form.  Possibly  she  was  known  in  her  own  home  as  a  child  by 
the  diminutive  form,  Paolina,  to  distinguish  her  from  her  mother,  when 
she  was  not  referred  to  as,  say,  Signorinetta. 

This  portrait  remained  for  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  in  the 
possession  of  the  Brignole  Sale  family,  for  whom  it  was  originally 
painted,  or  in  that  of  their  descendants  who  inherited  the  Brignole  family 
palace.  It  passed,  together  with  that  palace  and  other  pictures,  to  the 
Durazzo  family  and  was  subsequently  acquired  from  the  Marchese 
Flavio  Durazzo,  of  Genoa.  The  facts  are  briefly  set  out  in  a  letter 
written  in  1905  by  C.  Fairfax  Murray  and  now  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft.    It  reads  thus: 

"The  Marquis  Durazzo  purchased  from  the  Brignole  family  the 
palace  in  Via  Garibaldi,  Genoa,  where  hung  the  two  portraits  by 
Van  Dyck,  that  lately  purchased  and  a  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman 
belonging  to  Baron  Franchetti  at  Venice,  now  on  the  Index. 

"On  the  death  of  the  Marquis  the  pictures  became  the  property 
of  the  Marquis  Flavio  and  the  Marquis  Marcello  Durazzo  respec- 
tively. 

"The  Marquis  Marcello  sold  his,  the  male  portrait,  some  years 
since,  to  Baron  Franchetti.^  The  Marquis  Flavio  kept  the  lady  till 
this  spring." 

In  view  of  the  provenance  of  the  canvas  before  us  and  the  facts  already 
cited,  we  may  reasonably  claim  that  the  identification  of  the  young  lady 
is  established.  It  was  entirely  unknown  until  its  reproduction  in  colour 
in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  May,  191 7,  p.  5,  where  stress  was  laid  on 
the  fact  that: 

"The  unusual  height  of  the  figure  is  characteristic  of  this  period, 
lending  a  queenly  dignity  of  bearing.  A  small  dog  is  introduced, 
only  to  be  overwhelmed  and  obliterated  by  the  majestic  presence  of 

4  That  is  apparently  the  "Young  Man"  exhibited  by  Baron  Franchetti  at 
Antwerp  in  1899,  and  mentioned  in  Gust's  "Van  Dyck,"  1900,  p.  241.  It  is 
illustrated  in  Klassiker  der  Kunst:  "Van  Dyck,"  p.  178. 

1:533 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


its  mistress.  The  golden  tone  and  rich  black  also  mark  the  period 
and  bear  witness  to  Van  Dyck's  recent  study  of  the  great  Venetian 
master,  Titian." 

The  contrast  between  the  ample  proportions  of  Paolina  and  her  diminu- 
tive dog  is  seen  again  in  the  "Portrait  of  the  Wife  of  Philippe  le  Roy" 
in  the  Wallace  Collection  (No.  79),  which  is  dated  1631  and  belongs  to 
the  second  Flemish  period  of  the  artist.  In  the  latter  the  lady  naturally 
wears  a  double  lace  frill  which  covers  her  neck  and  shoulders,  as  marking 
the  difference  of  country  and  fashion. 

This  is  reproduced  by  Valentiner:  "Art  of  the  Low  Countries,"  19 14, 
p.  239,  as  "A  Lady  of  Rank,"  of  the  Genoese  period,  1 621-1626.  He 
adds  (p.  208) : 

"When  Van  Dyck  painted  the  Genoese  ladies  with  their  children, 
he  used  the  doll-like  little  ones  simply  as  facts  to  augment  the  ex- 
pression of  grandeur  and  of  superior  intelligence  in  their  elders,  some- 
what as  he  put  beside  a  great  lady— for  example,  in  a  picture  owned 
by  Mr.  Taft — a  playful  little  dog  whose  graceful,  heedless  gambols 
emphasize  by  contrast  her  dignified  placidity.  In  his  portrait  of 
Paola  Adorno,  belonging  to  Mr.  Widener,  he  uses  the  boy  with  his 
splendid  red  and  yellow  velvet  dress  as  a  colour  contrast  to  the  deep 
black  of  the  satin  gown." 

REMBRANDT 

Dutch  School;  i6o6-i66g 

No.  1 5    Portrait  of  an  Elderly  Woman. 

Bust  length,  nearly  life  size;  portrait  in  dark  brown  dress 
and  hood,  with  a  white  kerchief.  A  black  fur-trimmed  cloak 
fastened  with  two  gold  clasps,  over  a  dark  gray  under-dress. 
Gold  earrings.    Dark  neutral  background. 

Canvas,  25  inches  by  20  inches.  (0.63  x  0.50) 

Signed,  low  down  on  the  left:  "Rembrandt,  f.  1642." 
Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Sir  Hugh  Lane. 

C54n 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

Exhibited  at  the  Guildhall,  London,  1903,  No.  135.  It  was  then  rated 
high  by  connoisseurs,  but  the  critic  of  one  London  periodical.  May  30, 
1903,  had  the  temerity  to  urge  that:  "The  Tortrait  of  an  Old  Lady' 
(No.  135)  may  surely  be  excluded  as  altogether  unworthy"! 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  19 14,  No.  6. 

Bode:  ''Complete  Work  of  Rembrandt,"  1906,  Vol.  VIII,  No.  584, 
p.  38,  reproduces  this  picture  as  a  representative  work,  but  incorrectly 
states  in  the  text  that  it  is  ''dated  1652,"  an  error  that  has  been  copied 
by  several  other  writers  without  question.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt 
that  the  date  on  it  is  1642. 

"This  bold  painting  bears  a  date  which  appears  to  be  1652.  Rem- 
brandt's mother  died  in  1640,  so  that  the  traditional  title  of  the  picture 
cannot  be  correct.  It  used  to  be  the  common  habit  to  call  any  portrait 
of  an  old  woman  by  Rembrandt  his  mother.  ...  As  Rembrandt  ad- 
vanced in  years  he  grew  more  and  more  sensitive  to  the  beauty  of  old 
age.  Moreover,  his  power  of  rendering  that  beauty  correspondingly 
developed.  The  loose  and  free  touch  that  came  to  him  with  mature 
years  was  better  adapted  to  treat  such  figures  as  the  one  before  us  than 
the  smooth  and  unlined  countenances  of  youth.  His  power  of  attract- 
ing sympathy  for  age  grew  from  his  own  enlarged  sympathy.  The  sor- 
rows of  the  world  seem  to  have  impressed  him  as  they  impressed  Goethe, 
and  he  sympathised  without  revolt.  The  world  has  rightly  felt  that 
Rembrandt's  later  work  is  larger  and  nobler  than  that  of  his  years  of 
prosperity  and  fashionable  employment." 

Sir  Martin  Conway:  "Great  Masters,"  1903. 

Klassiker  der  Kunst:  "Rembrandt,"  1909,  p.  349. 

Valentiner:  "Art  in  the  Low  Countries,"  19 14,  p.  247,  as  of  1652  [f/c]. 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  191 6,  Vol.  VI,  No.  496, 
p.  251,  as  "dated  1652"  [sic']. 

This  broadly  painted  and  most  expressive  portrait  can,  without  doubt, 
be  assigned,  even  unsupported  by  the  date  of  1642,  to  the  earlier  period. 
A  careful  examination  of  the  technique  supports  that  view.  The  year 
in  which  it  would  thus  be  painted  marks  the  turning-point  in  the  Dutch 
master's  career ;  for  it  saw  the  completion  of  his  great  work,  the  so-called 
"Night  Watch,"  at  Amsterdam.    The  somewhat  melancholy  mood  of 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


the  sitter  may  perhaps  reflect  the  grief  of  the  artist  at  the  death,  in  that 
year,  of  his  beloved  wife  Saskia.  One  cannot  help  feeling  also  that  this 
canvas  was  painted  in  the  seclusion  of  the  home.  Indeed,  the  portrait 
recalls  somewhat  vividly  the  pathetic  portrayals  which  the  young  master 
painted  of  his  "Mother,"  of  which  instances  are  preserved  at  Windsor 
and  at  Wilton,  near  Salisbury.  They,  however,  belong  to  the  much 
earlier  date  of  1 629-1 631. 

Reproduced  in  the  New  York  Herald,  March  i,  1914. 


ERHAPS  few  would  expect  to  read  that  Corot  was  the 


son  of  a  coiffeur  and  a  modiste.    Yet  such  was  his  par- 


entage.  He  had  become  a  pupil  of  Nature  in  her  mys- 
terious and  elusive  moods  before  he  entered  the  studio  of  the 
academic  painter  Michallon  and,  afterwards,  that  of  Bertin. 
Following  in  the  footsteps  of  French  XVII  century  landscape 
painters,  he  in  1825  arrived  in  Italy  on  the  first  of  his  three 
journeys  to  that  country.  His  early  works  mark  a  sense  of 
obvious  topography,  but  reveal  him  as  enamoured  of  atmo- 
sphere. Rendered  with  some  precision  as  are  his  early  works, 
he  was  in  his  mature  style  to  develop  a  lyrical  feeling  based 
on  the  classical  traditions  taught  by  Michallon;  this  feeling 
was  allied  with  his  own  impressions,  received  direct  from 
nature.  To  this  end  he  had  sauntered  along  the  banks  of  lake 
and  river,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  individual  trees  and 
shrubs.  He  had  thus  exercised  his  judgment  in  the  selection 
of  pictorial  motives,  and  rejected  the  chance  appearance  of 
mere  topography.  He  had  been  thus  led  to  freedom  of  vis- 
ion and  airy  looseness  of  touch,  and  the  paint  on  his  later  can- 
vases justifies  their  description  as  "colour  music."  Although 
decorated  after  the  Salon  of  1846,  his  European  fame  dates 
only  from  the  last  period  of  his  career.  By  then  he  realized  that 
the  ancients  were  wise  in  peopling  lake  and  forest  with  nymph 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  CAMILLE  COROT 
French  School;  ijg6-i8j ^ 


1:563 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

and  dryad.  Half  unconsciously  he  had  to  paint  the  tender 
poetry  of  dawn  and  dusk  with  the  shimmer  of  vibrating  atmos- 
phere, while  all  was  based  on  a  truly  classic  sense  of  style. 
And  all  this  time  his  power  of  penetration  was  blended  with  a 
true  bonhomie.  Thus  le  hon  papa  Corot  gave  us  charming 
little  figure-pieces  and  countless  landscapes  rendered  with  a 
mastery  of  tone-values.  From  the  remarks  of  the  genial  and 
robust  master  of  the  arhre  penche  we  may  quote  his  comment 
on  Rosa  Bonheur:  "No,  I  don't  like  that  woman  in  man's 
clothes !  Why  can't  she  paint  and  remain  a  woman?"  Equally 
sententious  was  his  dictum  that  "Leonardo  da  Vinci  is  the 
inventor  of  the  modern  landscape."  And  of  that  fact  there  is 
no  doubt,  unless  in  a  different  sense  we  hark  back  to  Giotto  as 
"the  beginner." 

No.  1 6    Le  Soir  {''La  Fete  de  Pan''). 

A  romantic  sylvan  landscape,  with  tall  feathery  trees  on 
rising  ground  in  the  left  middle  distance.  At  the  foot  of  the 
knoll  two  nymphs  are  dancing,  while  two  others  of  their  num- 
ber and  a  child  stand  near.  They  bear  garlands  and  are  about 
to  decorate  a  terminal  figure  of  Pan,  god  of  pastures,  forests 
and  flocks.  The  rays  of  the  setting  sun  are  seen  along  the  val- 
ley on  the  right,  and  the  sky,  tinted  with  the  rosy  light  of  early 
evening,  is  reflected  in  a  pool  in  the  foreground.  The  whole 
scene  is  rendered  with  delicacy  of  touch,  freedom  and  breadth 
of  treatment. 

Canvas,  36  inches  by  43 inches.  (0.99  x  i.io) 

Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner:  "COROT." 

Said  to  have  been  in  an  Irish  collection  about  1871. 

In  the  collection  of  Baron  E.  M.  de  Beurnonville,  and  sold  April  29, 
1880  (No.  i),  under  the  title  of  "Le  Soir."  Engraved  in  eau  forte  by 
Buhot  for  that  catalogue;  the  description  in  the  sale  catalogue  begins: 
"Le  soleil  a  disparu,  le  ciel  est  encore  tout  inonde  de  lumiere." 

ns7] 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


In  the  Defoer  Collection,  Paris,  but  not  included  in  the  sale  catalogue 
of  May  22,  1886. 

In  the  Crabbe  Collection,  Brussels,  and  lent  to  the  Exposition  Centen- 
nale  de  I'Art  Frangais,  Paris,  1889,  No.  184,  as  "Le  Soir."  Included  in 
the  sale  catalogue  of  that  collection,  June,  1890,  No.  2,  under  the  title 
of  "La  Fete  de  Pan." 

Lent  by  Archibald  Coats,  of  Paisley,  Scotland,  to  the  Corot  Centenary 
Exhibition,  held  in  the  Galliera  Palace,  Paris,  1895,  No.  41. 

It  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  picture  "Souvenir  de  Mortefontaine"  (  ? ) , 
of  about  the  same  measurement,  in  the  Coats  Collection,  put  up  at 
auction  at  Christie's,  July  3,  19 14,  No.  10 1  (Robaut,  No.  2191). 

Robaut:  "L'CEuvre  de  Corot,"  1905,  Vol.  IV,  p.  287,  No.  11 11,  as 
"La  Fete  de  Pan,"  painted  about  1 855-1 860. 

"The  Corot  has  always  been  considered  as  one  of  the  finest  and  most 
representative  examples  of  the  great  French  painter,  and  came  on 
the  market  through  the  dispersal  of  the  Crabbe  Collection  in  Brus- 
sels about  fifteen  years  ago.  It  then  went  to  the  Coats  Collection, 
of  Paisley,  from  which  it  was  obtained  by  private  sale." 


HE  exact  circumstances  of  his  birth  are  unknown,  but 


he  was  born  about  1580,  and  apparently  at  Antwerp, 


his  parents  having  temporarily  removed  to  that  city 
from  Haarlem.  In  any  event,  from  his  childhood  he  made 
*'the  City  of  the  Tulip"  his  permanent  place  of  residence.  He 
may  have  been  a  pupil  of  Cornells  Cornelissen,  of  Hendrik 
Goltzius,  or  even  of  Karel  van  Mander,  the  Dutch  Vasari. 
The  earliest  surviving  works  of  this  great  "master  of  the 
brush"  comprise  his  small  sketchy  portraits  of  children  with 


New  York  Herald,  March  24,  1904. 


Mireur:  "Dictionnaire  des  Ventes,"  Vol.  II,  p.  263. 


FRANS  HALS 
Dutch  School;  i5So?-i666 


1:583 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

tousled  hair,  and  rommel-pot  players  of  rather  forbidding  ex- 
terior. It  is  remarkable  that  no  extant  work  can  be  dated  ear- 
lier than  1 6 10,  when  he  had  passed  his  thirtieth  year.  But  by 
1616  his  art  must  have  come  to  be  highly  esteemed  locally,  as 
he  was  in  that  year  commissioned  to  paint  his  "Banquet  of  the 
Officers  of  the  St.  Joris  Shooting  Guild,"  which  is  still  one  of 
the  municipal  glories  of  Haarlem.  On  February  20,  161 6,  he 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Burgomaster  of  Haar- 
lem, who  reprimanded  him  for  his  irregular  habits  and  his 
cruelty  to  his  first  wife,  Annette  Hermans.  She  died  some 
months  later,  and  the  following  year  he  married  Lisbeth  Rey- 
niers,  by  whom  he  had  six  sons;  they  were  all  painters,  but 
only  of  mediocre  attainments.  Improvident,  impetuous  and  at 
times  irresponsible,  he  doubtless  was.  Yet  it  is  clear  that  he 
could  not  have  been  in  early  manhood  the  wine-bibbing  sot 
that  some  have  misrepresented  him  as  being.  For  his  magnifi- 
cent achievements  of  later  years,  attested  by  numerous  can- 
vases, belie  the  haphazard  comments  of  unveracious  chroni- 
clers. Like  many  of  his  contemporaries,  and  among  them 
Rembrandt,  his  junior  by  twenty-six  years,  Hals  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  attract  art  patrons;  so  that  in  1654  he  had  to  appear 
before  a  public  notary,  at  the  instance  of  a  baker  who  sued 
him  for  debt.  In  such  circumstances  he  came  to  lack  the  inner 
moral  support  and  self-dependence  which  in  earlier  years  had 
sustained  him.  In  1664  he  was  granted  poor  relief  by  the  mu- 
nicipality of  Haarlem;  two  years  later  an  allowance  of  fifty 
florins  a  quarter  was  made  to  him,  and  on  his  death  his  widow 
was  allowed  fourteen  sous  a  week.  Thus  came  to  his  end,  in 
a  pauper's  grave,  one  of  the  elect  number  of  accomplished 
portrait  painters,  and  one  who  had  achieved  the  labours  of 
at  least  half  a  century.  In  spite  of  his  fluctuating  circum- 
stances, his  art  did  not  wane,  although  the  fashions  of  his  fickle 
patrons  had  changed. 

No  one  has  ever  surpassed  Hals  as  a  technician  within  the 
self-imposed  limits  of  his  art,  which  is  full  of  ease  and  assur- 
ance and  remarkable  for  a  magical  touch.   With  the  exception 

1591 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


of  a  dozen  canvases,  he  limited  himself  to  portraiture,  and  in 
his  hands  it  is  frankly  human  and  self-revealing.  A  compari- 
son of  his  art  with  Rembrandt's  is  natural.  Rembrandt  was 
more  versatile,  and  excelled  Hals  in  the  romanticism  of  his 
light  effects,  in  the  wider  range  of  his  spiritual  vision,  and  in 
the  aesthetic  unity  of  his  well-balanced  compositions.  On  the 
other  hand,  Hals's  fully-loaded  brush,  which  enabled  him  to 
improvise  a  chromatic  scale  of  suitable  intensity,  denotes  that 
he  adhered  to  his  own  conceptions,  untouched  by  intercourse 
with  other  painters.  Hals's  forceful  characterization  and 
frank  realism  transformed  the  likeness  of  his  sitters  into  great 
art.  The  humour  of  this  lusty  realist  was  inexhaustible,  and 
served  him  as  the  key-note  of  all  expression.  Yet  until  1865 
his  art  was  practically  forgotten;  nor  did  it  receive  the  meas- 
ure of  respect  due  it  for  at  least  another  forty  years. 

No.  17    Portrait  of  Michielsz  de  Wael. 

Three-quarter-length,  life  size,  in  black  dress,  with  lace  cuffs 
and  loose-falling  ruff,  and  wearing  a  large  black  hat.  His 
lemon-coloured  gloves  are  held  in  the  right  hand,  which  falls 
by  his  side;  his  left  hand  is  placed  against  his  hip.  He  has  a 
moustache,  a  short  beard  and  a  ruddy  complexion.  Yellow- 
ish brown  background. 

Canvas,  47  inches  by  38  inches.  '  (1.19x0.96) 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Arthur  Sanderson,  in  Edinburgh. 

"The  portrait  of  Michael  de  Wael  is  studiously  sober  in  colour,  and, 
unlike  the  gallant  and  merry  captains  and  soldiers  of  the  Haarlem 
guards  whom  he  painted  with  such  gusto,  has  a  pensive  cast. 
De  Wael  is  standing,  seen  to  the  knees,  in  a  black  silk  dress  trimmed 
with  velvet,  with  plain  deep  ruff-like  collar,  and  a  round-brimmed 
hat.  His  right  arm,  with  long  white  cuff,  hangs  at  his  side,  the 
hand  holding  a  glove;  the  left  is  akimbo.  His  cheeks,  rather  dry 
and  red,  have  high  bones  and  are  bare;  but  he  wears  a  moustache, 
an  imperial,  and  a  short  pointed  beard.    On  the  whole,  the  face  is 

[603 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


rather  hard,  but  manly  and  agreeable  withal — a  face  noticeable  in  a 
crowd,  and  to  be  trusted.  This  picture  must  be  reckoned  amongst 
Mr.  Sanderson's  most  covetable  possessions." 

Art  Journal,  1897,  PP-  271-3. 

When  exhibited  at  Burlington  House,  1902,  No.  loi,  it  drew  forth  con- 
siderable praise. 

"Near  it  is  a  later  picture  by  the  same  hand  [Hals],  belonging  to  Mr. 
Arthur  Sanderson.  This  Tortrait  of  Michael  de  Waal,'  a  very  fine 
picture,— it  lately  attracted  much  attention  at  Glasgow,— is  of  the 
middle  period  of  the  master,  and,  though  tfie  character  and  attitude 
have  less  than  usual  of  that  splendid  swagger  which  is  the  true  note 
of  Hals,  it  is  in  all  technical  respects  a  highly  characteristic  work 

^^^*  The  Times  J  London,  January  21,  1902. 

"He  is  in  his  most  characteristic  mood  in  the  Tortrait  of  Michael  de 
Waal'  (No.  loi,  Mr.  Arthur  Sanderson),  superb  in  the  desinvolture 
of  the  design,  in  the  certainty  in  which  it  is  thrown  on  the  canvas; 
but  as  to  the  head— that  of  a  viveur,  by  his  looks  of  Hals's  own  type, 
superficial  and  not  a  little  coarse." 

Sir  Claude  Phillips  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  January  24,  1902. 

"To  lovers  of  admirable  technical  accomplishment,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished works  in  the  Exhibition  is  beyond  doubt  the  'Portrait  of 
Michael  de  Wael,'  by  Frans  Hals,  a  splendid  exercise  in  direct 
brush-work  which  is  at  the  same  time  vigorous  in  statement  and 

refined  in  execution."  ^  _       ,       .  . 

Magazine  of  Art,  1902,  p.  224. 

"Among  the  works  of  Dutch  and  Flemish  painters  at  the  Exhibition, 
those  of  Frans  Hals  are  among  the  most  striking.  It  is  not  often 
that  Hals  reveals  himself  in  so  sympathetic  a  vein  as  in  the  Tortrait 
of  Michael  de  Wael'  (No.  loi)  and  'The  Portrait  of  a  Lady'  (No. 
133).  .  .  .  The  Tortrait  of  Michael  de  Wael'  comes  a  trifle  nearer 
to  Hals's  ordinary  manner,  but  it  is  none  the  less  unusually  quiet  and 
reserved.  The  man,  'with  his  hand  hanging  listlessly  at  his  side  and 
his  features  relaxed,  is  seen  in  a  moment  of  absorption,  unconscious 
of  his  surroundings  or  his  effect  on  others.  The  momentary  mood  is 
seized  with  as  great  a  certainty  and  as  fully  realized  as  the  franker, 
more  obvious  moods  which  Hals  usually  affected.    The  placing  of 

ceo 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


the  admirably  planned  design  is,  even  for  Hals,  remarkably  felicitous. 

So,  too,  is  the  restricted  colour-scheme  and  the  brick-red  flesh  and 

greenish-black  dress."  .  ,  _.     ,  ^ 

Atnenceum,  London,  March  i,  1902. 

G.  S.  Davies:  'T.  Hals,"  1902,  p.  65,  claims  that 

*'the  somewhat  rowdy-looking  person  who  sits  sixth  from  the  left  in 
front  of  the  table  (in  the  group  of  1627),  and  who  turns  his  glass 
upside  down  after  emptying  it,  is  the  same  man  as  he  who  stands 
fifth  and  in  the  lower  row  of  the  1639  *St.  George's  Group,'  grasping 
a  baton  in  his  left  hand.  In  the  earlier  group  he  has  often  been  mis- 
taken for  Frans  Hals  himself,  who,  however,  had,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  no  place  in  these  groups.  The  man  is  Michielsz  de  Waal— a 
separate  portrait  of  the  same  man,  the  property  of  Mr.  A.  Sanderson, 
appeared  in  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Old  Masters,  January, 
1902— who,  when  the  later  group  was  painted,  was  fiscal  of  the 
Guild.  The  twelve  intervening  years  of  marching  and  feasting  have 
left  marks  which  Hals  has  not  forgotten  to  record." 

E.  W.  Moes:  ^^Iconographia  Batava''  1905,  Vol.  II,  p.  566,  where  it  is 
noted  also  that  Jan  de  Wael,  who  died  in  1663,  was  Burgomaster  of 
Haarlem. 

E.  W.  Moes:  "F.  Hals,"  1909,  p.  104,  No.  83. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  i. 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1910,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  72,  No. 
242,  deals  with  this  picture.  Apparently  it  is  the  companion  portrait  to 
that  of  his  wife,  Cornelia  van  Baersdorp,  but  the  latter  of  these  paint- 
ings has  not  been  seen,  or  at  least  identified,  since  it  was  No.  153  in  the 
sale  held  at  Utrecht,  Holland,  June  27,  1825,  when  two  hundred  florins 
were  paid  for  the  pair ! 

"The  second  Hals  [exhibited  in  1909,  as  above]  was  a  standing  portrait, 
something  more  than  half  length,  of  that  Michielsz  de  Wael,  of 
Haarlem,  who  sits  sixth  from  the  left  in  front  of  the  table,  reversing 
his  empty  glass,  in  the  reunion  of  the  Officers  of  St.  Joris  Shooting 
Guild,  1627,  and  who  stands  fifth  from  the  left  in  the  lower  row, 
holding  a  baton,  in  the  similar  group  of  the  same  guild,  1639.  In 
Mr.  Taft's  picture  something  of  the  weariness  that  follows  these 
banquetings  may  be  discerned  in  the  countenance,  and  possibly  also 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


something  more  of  refinement.  The  colour  is  fresh  and  just,  very 
beautiful,  and  the  supple,  alert  movement  of  the  figure  is  most  ad- 
mirably rendered.     Burlington  Magazine,  1910,  Vol.  X,  p.  386. 

"There  are  three  examples  of  the  painter's  painter,  Frans  Hals,  prince 
of  craftsmen,  and  perhaps  the  most  notable  is  the  portrait  of 
Michielsz  de  Wael,  of  three-quarter  length,  of  florid  countenance,  a 
fresh,  crisp  canvas,  almost  as  perfect  as  when  it  left  the  artist's  studio. 
The  head  is  a  marvel,  and  there  is  a  right  hand  that  is  the  last  vrord  [  !] 
in  brilliancy  of  execution.  One  notes  in  the  portraits  of  these  men 
the  splendid  management  of  the  blacks,  the  brilliancy  and  snap  ob- 
tained in  the  manipulation  of  the  sombre  tones  of  a  costume  that 
offered  apparently  little  for  the  enthusiasm  of  the  painter." 

International  Studio,  19 10,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  Ixxiv. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  19 14,  No.  i. 

W.  von  Bode  (tr.  M.  W.  Brockwell)  :  "Frans  Hals,"  1914,  Vol.  H, 
No.  168,  plate  102. 

Entire  unanimity  among  the  critics,  as  to  the  identity  of  this  distin- 
guished-looking young  man,  has  not  yet  been  reached.  Nor  do  we  know 
exactly  when  the  portrait  was  painted.  It  is  now  contained  in  a  plain 
but  quite  suitable  frame,  but  we  are  told  that  formerly  there  was  "on 
the  bottom  of  the  frame  a  coat  of  arms  bearing  a  bird  facing  right  on 
clouds.  On  the  top  of  the  frame  is  the  monogram  comprised  of  the  let- 
ters C  H  R  and  G."  This  is  vague  enough  in  all  conscience,  and  the 
knowledge  of  heraldry  displayed  is  not  very  convincing. 

But  there  is  common  ground  for  discussion,  as  Michielsz  de  Wael— 
and  it  may  well  be  he  who  is  here  portrayed — figures  in  two  portrait 
groups  painted  by  Hals  in  1627  and  1639,  and  now  in  the  Town  Mu- 
seum at  Haarlem.  The  former  represents  the  "Banquet  of  the  Officers 
of  St.  George's  Shooting  Company"  (St.  Jorisdoelen) .  Six  men  are 
seated  and  five  others  stand  round  a  table.  Each  figure  bears  a  number 
corresponding  to  the  list  of  names  below  on  the  frame.  The  names  in- 
clude (i)  Aernout  Druyvesteyn,  Colonel,  and  (2)  Michielsz  de  Wael. 
The  figures  are  ranged  in  order  from  left  to  right;  of  those  seated  the 
fourth  from  the  left  is  Michielsz  de  Wael.  He  is  bare-headed  and  has 
a  moustache.  (Bode,  plate  61,  68  inches  x  90  inches;  H.  de  Groot,  No. 
432.) 

[63] 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

The  latter  represents  the  "Officers  and  Under-Officers  of  the  St. 
George's  Shooting  Company."  In  the  open  air  nineteen  persons  are 
assembled,  mainly  in  two  rows.  They  are  numbered  and  named:  (i) 
Johan  Loo,  Colonel;  (2)  Michielsz  de  Wael,  Treasurer,  who  is  in  the 
lower  row  and  fifth  from  the  left;  he  wears  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  fine 
linen  collar  and  cuffs  trimmed  with  lace,  and  a  sash;  a  baton  is  in  his 
extended  left  hand;  he  is  turned  three  quarters  to  the  left.  (Bode,  plate 
112,  80%  inches  by  164  inches;  H.  de  Groot,  No.  435.) 

Everyone  will,  perhaps,  not  recognize  the  identity  between  the  historical 
figure  in  these  portrait  groups  and  our  sitter.  But  those  who  admire 
consummate  technical  accomplishment  and  direct  brush-work  will  admit 
that  the  present  example  is  vigorous  in  statement  and  refined  in  execution. 

ADRIAEN  VAN  OSTADE 

Dutch  School;  1610-168^ 

IN  Adriaen  van  Ostade  we  meet  with  a  pupil  of  Frans  Hals, 
but  one  influenced  perhaps  by  Rembrandt  and  Brouwer;  a 
native  of  Haarlem,  he  was  a  prolific  painter  of  ability  and 
charm.  Although  a  little  matter-of-fact  at  times,  his  paintings, 
drawings  and  etchings  are  to-day  highly  prized,  and  deserv- 
edly so.  The  brother  and  master  of  Isaac  van  Ostade,  he 
spent  the  whole  of  his  life  in  his  native  town  painting  an  end- 
less variety  of  scenes  from  family  life  and  daily  occupation, 
which  he  rendered  in  carefully  blended  tones,  even  though 
there  is  a  certain  repetition  in  the  types.  Still,  thus  is  he  the 
product  of  his  country  and  his  period,  and  a  technician  of  rare 
distinction. 

No.  18    Interior  of  a  Carpenter's  Shop. 

The  carpenter,  in  blue  coat  with  red  sleeves,  and  a  blue  cap, 
stands  by  the  window  in  the  right  background;  he  rests  a  large 
piece  of  wood  against  the  window  sill.  On  the  left,  and  nearer 
to  the  front,  are  two  men  and  a  boy.    One  of  them  is  seated 

1:64:] 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 


on  an  upturned  tub,  and  is  poking  the  dying  embers  in  the 
hearth;  another  man  is  holding  an  earthenware  jug  in  his  right 
hand,  as  he  offers  the  glass  in  his  left  to  the  child  who  leans 
against  the  chair;  near  the  chair  is  a  dog.  Smoked  hams  hang 
from  the  rafters  near  the  fireplace;  baskets  and  boards  are  by 
the  window  and  near  the  wall  on  the  right. 

Canvas,  13  inches  by  15  inches.  (0.33  xo.38) 

Engraved  as  '*La  Maison  du  Menuisier"  in  the  D'Orsay  Collection. 
Included  in  the  Bire  Collection,  sale  Heris  of  Brussels,  Paris,  March  25, 
1841,  No.  48. 

Apparently  the  picture  described  by  Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue 
Raisonne,"  igio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  263,  No.  404/,  as  "The  Joiner's  Shop." 
It  is  therein  stated  incidentally  that  "another  man  mends  his  shoe."  In 
a  poor  photograph  of  the  painting,  or  before  it  was  properly  cleaned,  he 
may  have  appeared  to  be  so  engaged.    He  is,  in  fact,  poking  the  embers. 

Dr.  W.  von  Bode  wrote,  in  1905,  to  Lockett  Agnew  thus: 

"The  Adriaen  van  Ostade  'Interior  of  a  Cabaret'  which  you 
showed  me  last  month  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  pictures  by  the 
master  that  I  have  seen  for  sale  for  years.  It  is  fine  in  composition, 
full  of  life,  beautiful  in  colour  and  chiaroscuro  and  well  preserved. 
I  prefer  these  smaller  pictures  to  the  rich  compositions  of  the  artist, 
which  are  generally  too  crowded." 


FRANS  HALS 
Dutch  School;  1580?-! 666 

No.  19    The  Laughing  Boy. 

A  small  bust  length  of  a  boy  with  long  reddish-brown  hair, 
rosy  face,  and  large  mouth  with  some  of  the  front  teeth  miss- 
ing. He  looks  out  at  the  spectator  over  his  left  shoulder, 
but  his  body  is  turned  to  the  left.  He  wears  a  green  coat.  In 
his  raised  right  hand  he  holds  a  whistle,  or  flute,  in  front  of 

1:651 


THE  GREEN  ROOM 

another  child,  whose  face  is  less  well  seen  in  the  left  back- 
ground. 

Canvas,  in  a  clearly  marked  oval  on  a  small  rectangular  ground,  13^ 
inches  by  12^  inches.  (0.33  xo.32) 

Bode  (tr.  M.  W.  Brockwell)  :  "F.  Hals,"  1914,  Vol.  I,  No.  28,  plate 

12C. 

Possibly  to  be  identified  with  the  picture  described  at  length  by  De 
Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  19 10,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  36,  No.  132,  as  "Head 
of  a  Laughing  Boy  with  a  Flute."  That  picture  is  described  as  being  a 
panel — the  present  one  is  a  canvas — and  signed  with  the  monogram.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  exhibited  at  Diisseldorf,  1886,  No.  134,  and  to  have 
been  included  in  the  Neven  sale,  Cologne,  March  17,  1879,  No.  85,  and 
at  the  Niesewand  ( !)  sale  in  London,  June  9,  1886,  No.  52.  It  seems 
impossible  to  verify  these  facts  "on  this  side." 


1:66:1 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


MEINDERT  HOBBEMA 

Dutch  School;  idsS-iyoQ 


F  the  artistic  origin  of  Hobbema's  achievement  we 


know  little,  but  he  is  said  to  have  been  a  pupil  of  Jacob 


^^--^  van  Ruisdael.  That  he  had  thought  out  a  character- 
istically Dutch  manner  of  his  own,  before  he  came  under  the 
influence  of  Ruisdael,  will  not  be  denied.  And  we  know  that,  as 
friends,  they  went  into  the  country  together  on  sketching  tours. 
Ruisdael  painted  everything  in  the  range  of  landscape :  but  not 
so  Hobbema.  The  latter  does  not,  like  Avercamp,  give  us 
winter  scenes;  like  Van  der  Neer,  moonlit  canals;  like  Ever- 
dingen,  mountain  torrents ;  like  Ruisdael,  rocky  or  hilly  land- 
scapes with  storm  effects.  Trees  to  Hobbema  are  individual 
objects  to  be  scattered  as  accessories  about  the  middle  distance, 
and  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  integral  features  of  a  wood.  He 
did  not  go  into  the  open,  and  paint  directly  on  his  panel  the 
actual  appearance  of  a  scene  that  he  chanced  to  see  with  an 
ever  changing  natural  aspect,  as  did  Jacob  van  Ruisdael.  But 
he  worked  as  an  eclectic,  representing  the  composite  landscape, 
of  his  own  formation  and  invention,  with  a  poetic  charm  and  a 
sense  of  realism  that  have  established  his  fame  in  our  time. 
Individual  in  his  outlook  on  nature,  he  prefers  to  set  before  us 
a  scene  of  engaging  naturalism.  Thus  a  carefully  executed, 
and  often  shady,  foreground  may  include  a  rutty  road  near  a 
clump  of  trees,  a  pool  of  stagnant  water,  or  a  tiny  peaceful 
stream.  Pieter  de  Hooch  by  subtle  gradation  of  light,  al- 
though differently  controlled,  and  in  another  sphere  of  Dutch 
painting,  treated  his  human  figures  as  decorative  adjuncts  in 
a  passage  or  another  room  at  the  back:  Hobbema  contrived 
with  conspicuous  success,  as  his  scene  recedes  into  the  middle 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 

distance,  to  make  the  light  pierce  through  a  screen  of  trees  and 
foliage  and  cast  long  shadows  across  the  open  glades.  In 
the  environment  that  Hobbema  devises  we  do  not  at  first  see 
the  red-tiled  cottage,  the  wooden  hut  with  a  half  door,  the 
church  spire,  the  green  water-mill  or  the  castle  in  partial  ruin; 
yet  all  may  be  there,  in  a  Guelderland  landscape  seen  by  the 
strong  light  of  an  afternoon  sun  and  invested  with  an  atmo- 
sphere of  contentment  and  peace ;  the  whole  is  rendered  with 
a  loving  sense  of  detail.  This  detail  obscures  the  accessories 
in  a  deliberately  composed  scene,  which  had  no  existence  in 
fact. 

Yet  so  strange  was  the  economic  condition  of  Holland  in 
the  closing  decades  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  so  scanty 
was  art  patronage,  that  Hobbema,  to  support  himself,  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  professional  activities  of  a  painter  for 
those  of  a  municipal  gauger  of  wine  and  foreign  liquids  which, 
in  Haarlem,  had  to  be  measured  according  to  their  capacity. 
Although  his  aesthetic  activities  in  early  manhood  were  of 
short  duration,  he  has  left  us  a  fair  number  of  paintings,  but 
his  own  figures  are  ill  drawn.  He  died  in  poverty,  in  the  same 
street  that  Rembrandt  had  died  in  forty  years  previously.  His 
pictures  had  a  great  influence  on  the  art  of  ''Old"  Crome,  the 
landscape  painter  in  the  Norwich  School,  who  died  in  1821. 

No.  20    A  Landscape  with  Cattle  and  Figures  {^^Les 
Moulins''). 

The  left  of  the  composition  is  dominated  by  lofty  trees, 
which  surround  and  overshadow  a  sedgy  pool  by  the  roadside. 
On  the  far  side  of  the  pool,  and  in  the  shade,  is  a  man  with 
two  cows,  one  of  which  is  drinking.  Near  them  are  a  goat,  a 
dog  and  several  sheep.  On  the  extreme  right  a  herdsman, 
blowing  his  horn,  drives  an  ox  down  the  road,  and  is  about  to 
pass  a  boy  who  walks  towards  him.  At  the  roadside  on  the 
right  sits  a  woman,  and  a  man  lying  on  the  ground  rests  his 
head  on  her  lap.    In  the  distance  to  the  right  we  see  two 

1:703 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 

water-mills,  in  front  of  which  is  a  large  mill-dam.  Beyond  them 
and  more  to  the  left  are  houses,  and  one  or  two  small  figures 
seen  in  the  sunlit  meadows. 

The  figures  were  painted  in  by  Adriaen  van  de  Velde. 

Canvas,  37  inches  by  50  inches.  ^0.93  x  1.27) 

Signed:  "M.  Hobbema." 

Said  to  have  been  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago  in  the  collection  of 
"an  English  nobleman."  Subsequently  it  passed  into  the  collection  of  the 
Countess  of  Holderness,  which  contained  "some  good  pictures  of  the 
Dutch  School."  After  the  death  of  the  Countess,  "who  succeeded  to  some 
of  the  best  from  the  Greffier  Fagel  Collection  in  Holland,"  the  pictures 
were  dispersed  in  1802,  this  one  being  then  sold  to  "Hanbury  Tracy." 

Exhibited  at  the  British  Gallery,  1821,  No.  129;  and  1832,  No.  56,  by 
C.  Hanbury  Tracy. 

In  the  collection  of  Charles  Hanbury  Tracy,  1835. 

In  the  San  Donato  Collection,  sold  at  Florence,  Italy,  in  March,  1880, 
No.  1 103,  and  referred  to  in  the  Catalogue  as  a  "magnifique  paysage,  Tun 
des  plus  precieux  chefs  d'oeuvre  d'  Hobbema.  Signe:  M.  Hobbema  en 
toutes  lettres,  a  droite  sur  le  chemin;  0.96  x  1.28." 

In  the  Secretan  Collection,  and  included  in  the  sale  at  Christie's,  July 
13,  1889,  No.  6. 

Subsequently  in  the  collection  of  Samuel  Cunliffe-Lister,  at  Swinton 
Park. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  5 ;  and  again  in 
1914,  No.  5. 

Smith:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1835,  pt.  6,  p.  117,  No.  10,  where  it  is 
stated  that  "the  figures  in  this  capital  picture  are  by  Adriaen  van  de 
Velde." 

New  edition  of  Smith,  191 2,  Vol.  IV,  p.  389,  No.  106. 
Redford:  "Art  Sales,"  1888,  Vol.  I,  p.  89. 

"Hobbema's  works  were  little  thought  of  during  his  lifetime,  or  even 
during  the  succeeding  generation.  No  mention  is  made  of  his  name 
in  any  sale  catalogue  until  1735,  twenty-six  years  after  his  death, 

n70 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


when  two  landscapes  by  him  were  sold  for  70  and  40  florins.  .  .  . 
During  the  19th  century  they  have  changed  hands  at  as  high  a  price 
as  £8,820,  the  sum  realized  at  the  sale  of  the  San  Donato  Collection 
in  1880,  by  a  'Landscape'  with  cattle  and  figures  by  Adriaen  van  de 
Velde."  (F.  Cundall:  "Landscape  Painters  of  Holland,"  1891,  p. 
158.)    That  reference,  of  course,  applies  to  the  present  picture. 

"A  landscape  by  Hobbema  takes  your  attention.  It  is  a  sketch  of  coun- 
try with  figures  and  cattle,  somewhat  composed  as  were  the  land- 
scapes of  the  day,  less  convincing  in  a  color  way  than  are  the  por- 
traits, less  possible  of  nature  as  we  look  at  it  in  these  times;  yet  this 
is  a  masterpiece  pure  and  simple.  One  speculates  as  to  what  were^ 
its  color  aspects  when  it  left  the  easel  of  the  painter.  Somehow  one  is 
inclined  to  believe  that  it  must  have  been  more  free  from  browns, 
that  there  were  tenderer  grays  not  now  in  evidence.  Yet  with  ob- 
vious lackings,  it  makes  up  in  other  directions,  for  here  is  landscape 
construction  of  a  high  order.  Hobbema  knew  his  tree  forms,  his 
earth,  his  distance,  the  lay  of  the  land,  and  he  sends  the  eye  away 
back;  you  feel  the  stability  of  it  all." 

International  Studio/'  1910,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  Ixxiv. 

Adriaen  van  de  Velde  (i 636-1 672)  was  in  the  habit  of  painting  the 
figures  into  landscapes  by  Hobbema  and  several  other  Dutch  painters. 

THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A. 

English  School;  ij2J-ij88 

No.  21    Portrait  of   Maria  Walpole,   Duchess  of 
Gloucester. 

Nearly  three-quarter  length,  the  head  turned  slightly  to  the 
right;  in  a  gold-tinted  dress  with  pearl  ornaments,  leaning  her 
head  upon  her  left  hand;  her  left  arm  rests  upon  a  pedestal 
that  is  hardly  seen;^  her  hair  is  dressed  high  and  powdered. 

1  So  unusual  a  feature  in  a  canvas  of  this  size  seems  to  denote  that  this  was 
originally,  as  recorded,  a  whole  length.  The  left  arm  leaning  on  a  pedestal, 
but  in  a  different  pose,  is  found  again  in  the  famous  life-size  portrait  of  "The 
Hon.  Mrs.  Graham"  at  Edinburgh. 

1:72: 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


Canvas,  35^  inches  by  27 y2  inches.  (0.90  x  0.69) 

Painted  about  1779. 

The  second  natural  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Walpole,  K.B.,^ 
and  Dorothy  Clements,  spinster,  said  to  have  been  a  milliner's  appren- 
tice at  Durham  and,  as  it  would  appear,  subsequently  at  Bath.  Maria 
was  baptized,^  July  10,  1736,  at  St.  James's,  Westminster.  By  his  Maj- 
esty's warrant  to  the  Deputy  Earl  Marshal,  she  was  to  have  "the  same 
Preeminency  and  Precedency  as  the  Daughter  of  an  Earl  of  Great 
Britain."^  Her  marriage  on  May  15,  I759>^  to  the  Right  Hon.  James, 
second  Earl  of  Waldegrave,  K.G.,  was  largely  brought  about  by  her 
uncle,  Horace  Walpole.   These  are  Walpole's  words: 

"I  have  married,  that  is,  I  am  marrying  my  niece,  Maria,  my 
brother's  second  daughter,  to  Lord  Waldegrave.  What  say  you? 
A  month  ago  I  was  told  he  liked  her— does  he?  I  jumbled  them  to- 
gether and  he  has  already  proposed.  For  character  and  credit  he  is 
the  first  match  in  England— for  beauty,  I  think  she  is.  She  has  not 
a  fault  in  her  face  and  person,  and  the  detail  is  charming.  A  warm 
complexion  tending  to  brown,  fine  eyes,  brown  hair,  fine  teeth,  and 
infinite  wit  and  vivacity."^ 

2  Sir  Edward  Walpole  was  the  second  son  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  who  was 
subsequently  first  Earl  of  Orford.  Sir  Edward  died  unmarried.  He  had  three 
natural  daughters: 

(1)  Louisa  (called  also  Laura  in  Burke's  "Peerage,"  1915,  p.  1545,  note), 
who,  September  13,  1758,  married  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Frederick  Keppel,  son  of 
the  second  Earl  of  Albemarle.  He  was  born  1728 ;  consecrated  Bishop  of  Exeter 
1762;  died  1777.    She  d.s.p.,  July  27,  1813. 

(2)  Maria,  who  here  concerns  us. 

(3)  Charlotte,  who,  October  2,  1770,  became  the  first  wife  of  Lionel,  fifth 
Earl  of  Dysart.  She  d.s.p.,  September  5,  1789.  He  was  born  1734;  died  1799. 
L,  Cust:  "Royal  Collection  of  Paintings,  Buckingham  Palace,"  wrongly  calls  him 
the  fourth  Earl.  See  also  "Complete  Peerage,"  by  G.  E.  C,  edited  by  Hon. 
Vicary  Gibbs,  1916,  Vol.  IV,  p.  565.  Mrs.  Barry's  "Journal"  (Vol.  I,  p.  190) 
suggests  she  was  a  very  lovable  woman  of  high  character: 

"Adieu,  sweet  shade,  complete  was  thy  career." 

3  G.  E.  C:  "Complete  Peerage,"  1892,  Vol.  IV,  p.  46. 

4  Gentleman's  Magazine,  February,  1742,  Vol.  XII,  p.  108. 

5  Burke's  "Peerage,"  191 5,  p.  1545,  note,  gives  the  date  wrongly  as  May  17,, 
but  correctly  at  p.  2016. 

6  "Letters  of  Horace  Walpole,"  edited  by  Peter  Cunningham,  1861,  Vol.  III^ 
p.  218;  in  a  letter,  dated  from  "Arlington  Street,  April  11,  1859,"  to  Sir  Horace 
Mann. 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


Again,  Walpole  writes : 

"The  second  daughter  [of  my  brother]  is  beauty  itself!  Her 
face,  bloom,  eyes,  hair,  teeth  and  person  are  all  perfect.  You  may 
imagine  how  charming  she  is,  when  her  only  fault,  if  one  must  find 
one,  is  that  her  face  is  rather  too  round.  She  has  a  great  deal  of 
wit  and  vivacity,  with  perfect  modesty.  I  must  tell  you,  too,  of  their 
brother."^ 

And  again: 

''Well!  Maria  was  married  yesterday.  Don't  we  manage  well? 
The  original  day  was  not  once  put  off;  lawyers  and  milliners  were 
all  ready  canonically.  It  was  as  sensible  a  wedding  as  ever  was. 
There  was  neither  form  nor  indecency,  both  which  generally  meet 
on  such  occasions.  They  were  married  at  my  brother's  in  Pall  Mall, 
just  before  dinner,  by  Mr.  Keppel ;  the  company,  my  brother,  his  son, 
Mrs.  Keppel,  and  Charlotte,  Lady  Elizabeth  Keppel,  Lady  Betty 
Waldegrave,  and  I.  We  dined  there.  The  Earl  and  new  Countess 
got  into  the  post-chaise  at  eight  o'clock,  and  went  to  Navestock  [Lord 
Waldegrave's  seat  near  Brentwood,  Essex]  alone,  where  they  stay 
till  Saturday  night;  on  Sunday  she  is  to  be  presented.  .  .  .  Maria 
was  in  a  white  and  silver  nightgown  ( ! ) ,  with  a  hat  very  much  pulled 
over  her  face ;  what  one  could  see  of  it  was  handsomer  than  ever ;  a 
cold  maiden  blush  gave  her  the  sweetest  delicacy  in  the  world.  I 
had  like  to  have  demolished  the  solemnity  of  the  ceremony  by  laugh- 
ing— when  Mr.  Keppel  read  the  words  'Bless  thy  servant  and  thy 
handmaid/  it  struck  me  how  ridiculous  it  would  have  been,  had  Miss 
Drax  been  the  handmaid,  as  she  was  to  have  been.  .  .  . 

An  informing,  if  scandalous,  account  is  that  given  in  the  Town  and 

Country  Magazine: 

"Our  hero,  whom  we  shall  call  Dorimont,  was  born  to  the  most 
exalted  rank  in  life,  with  an  understanding  equal  to  the  station  he  was 
to  move  in.  His  education,  while  it  was  polite  and  classical,  was 
also  moral  and  religious ;  and  his  tender  years  testified  the  most  prom- 
ising fruits  of  such  a  tuition.  The  improvement  of  his  person,  as  he 
advanced  towards  maturity,  seemed  to  keep  pace  with  that  of  his 

Letter  from  Strawberry  Hill,  September  9,  1758,  to  Sir  Horace  Mann.  See 
Mrs.  P.  Toynbee:  "Letters  of  Horace  Walpole,"  1903,  Vol.  IV,  p.  186. 

sWalpole's  letter  from  Arlington  Street,  May  16,  1759,  to  George  Montagu. 
See  Toynbee,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  265-6. 

[743 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


intellectual  faculties,  and  a  peculiar  florid  complexion,  with  an  ex- 
pressive open  countenance,  and  fine  light  hair,  could  not  fail  recom- 
mending him  to  the  attention  of  the  ladies. 

"Maria,  the  lady  who  makes  a  joint  part  of  this  history,  and 
whose  beautiful  face  we  have  endeavoured  to  give  the  reader  a  lively 
idea  of  in  the  subjoined  plate,  has  been  for  several  years  a  reigning 
toast.  Yet  time  seems  to  have  laid  no  hold  on  her  charms,  but  allows 
her  all  the  juvenile  exertion  of  her  powers  to  please  and  captivate. 
Added  to  a  fine  figure,  she  unites  all  the  beauties  of  the  mind,  and  is 
peculiarly  happy  in  that  persuasive  eloquence  that  so  few  of  us  mor- 
tal men  can  resist. 

"The  world  has  derived  this  lady's  pedigree  from  Mrs.  C  ts, 

who  resided  at  Bath,  and  is  said  to  have  kept  a  milliner's  shop  there; 
she  is  still  more  universally  known  to  be  the  natural  daughter  of  a 
K — t  of  the  B — ;  and  the  following  anecdote  is  transmitted  to  us 

of  the  source  of  this  connexion.    Sir  E  ,  being  one  evening  in 

more  than  common  spirits,  .  .  . 

"Mrs.  C          continued  her  connexion  with  her  lover,  leaving 

Bath,  and  living  in  a  very  splendid  manner,  in  one  of  the  politest 
streets  in  this  metropolis.  She  also  produced  two  other  daughters, 
who  are  both  married.  .  .  . 

"It  were  needless  to  say,  that  Maria's  education  was  suited  to  the 
rank  of  life  in  which  she  has  ever  figured;  and  the  advantages  she 
derived  from  it  were  entirely  noticed  by  every  man  of  taste  and  dis- 
cernment who  was  happy  enough  to  be  in  her  company.  .  .  . 

"L  W  was  at  this  time  paying  his  addresses  to  a  young 

lady  whom  the  world  had  been  so  ill-natured  as  to  suppose  guilty  of  a 
faux  pas;  when  meeting  with  Maria,  he  was  suddenly  struck  with  her 
charms,  and  yielded  a  voluntary  captive  to  the  connubial  chain."^ 

Maria  evidently  disputed  the  prize  of  beauty^^  with  the  celebrated 

Misses  Gunning;  for  in  a  letter  of  June  23,  1759,  Horace  Walpole 

^  Toivn  and  Country  Magazine,  January,  1769,  pp.  13-14.  The  barely  sup- 
pressed references  indicate:  Mrs.  Clements,  Knight  of  the  Bath,  Sir  Edward 
Walpole,  and  Lord  Waldegrave. 

While  on  the  subject  o^  beauty,  as  recorded  by  Walpole,  we  may  with  ad- 
vantage quote  a  letter  from  him  to  the  Countess  of  Ossory,  dated  February, 
1772,  in  regard  to  Georgiana,  wife  of  William,  fifth  Duke  of  Devonshire. 
Georgiana  (born  1757;  died  1806)  was,  of  course,  twenty-one  years  younger 
than  Maria  Walpole.    He  writes: 

"Last  night  I  was  at  a  ball  at  the  Lady's  Club.    It  was  all  goddesses, 
instead  of  being  a  resurrection  of  dancing  matrons,  as  usual.   The  Duchess 


D53 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


relates  that  "my  Lady  Coventry  and  my  niece  Walpole  have  been  mobbed 
in  the  Park."ii 

Maria's  first  husband  was  born  March  14,  1715  (New  Style) ,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  1 741.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  and  adviser  of  George  II. 
Between  1752  and  1756  he  tried  to  give  his  royal  pupil,  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  afterwards  George  III,  "notions  of  common  things,"  instructing 
him  "by  conversation  rather  than  by  books."  Moreover,  he  always  stood 
his  friend  with  the  King.  But  he  regarded  his  task  as  "the  most  painful 
servitude."  For  five  days,  in  June,  1757,  he  was  Premier.  Although 
described  in  1751  as  "totally  surrendered  to  his  pleasures,"  he  was  at  the 
time  of  his  marriage  said  to  be  "as  old  again  as  she,  and  of  no  agreeable 
figure,  but  for  character  and  credit  the  finest  match  in  England."  Lord 
Stewart  of  Cornwall,  Lord  Warden  of  the  Stannaries,  and  one  of  the 
tellers  of  the  Exchequer,  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  one  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil, he  died  April  8,  1763,^^  of  small-pox,  through  which  he  had  been 
heroically  nursed  by  his  devoted  wife. 

of  Devonshire  [who  was  then  eighteen  years  of  age]  eifaces  all  without 
being  a  beauty,  but  her  youth,  figure,  flowing  good  nature,  sense,  and  lively 
modesty  and  modest  familiarity  make  her  a  phenomenon." 
Walpole,  writing  on  May  29,  1783,  refers  to  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire  as 
being  "The  Empress  of  fashion,  but  no  beauty  at  all.    She  was  a  very  fine 
woman,  with  all  the  freshness  of  youth  and  health,  but  now  verges  to  coarse- 
ness."   She  was  then  in  her  twenty-eighth  year.    Maria  was,  at  the  moment 
that  this  portrait  was  painted,  in  her  forty-third  year. 

This  was  Maria,  Countess  of  Coventry  (1733-1760),  who,  with  her  sister 
Elizabeth  (1734-1790),  was  famous  for  her  beauty  of  face  and  figure.  On  their 
appearance  in  London  in  the  summer  of  175 1,  these  sisters  Gunning,  though 
quite  young,  were  pronounced  to  be  "the  handsomest  women  alive."  Of  the  two,, 
Maria  was  the  more  lovely.  Walpole,  however,  says  that  singly  they  were 
surpassed  by  others,  but  "it  was  extraordinary  that  two  sisters  should  be  so 
beautiful."  Yet  they  were  lacking  in  sense,  and  in  knowledge  of  the  world. 
Maria  in  1752  married  George  William,  sixth  Earl  of  Coventry.  Elizabeth 
Gunning  in  1752  surreptitiously  married  James,  sixth  Duke  of  Hamilton,  "using 
the  ring  of  the  bed-curtain"  as  her  wedding-ring.  He  died  six  years  later. 
When,  in  1759,  she  married  John,  fifth  Duke  of  Argyll,  her  beauty  was  said 
to  be  still  unimpaired  and  her  behaviour  modest.  "Even  when  far  advanced 
in  life,  and  with  very  decayed  health,"  she  was  remarkably  beautiful  and 
"seemed  composed  of  a  finer  clay  than  the  rest  of  her  sex."  She  died  of  con- 
sumption. During  her  last  illness  her  personal  appearance  was,  "as  ever,  her 
chief  care."  People  were  never  tired  of  running  after  her,  and  "one  Sunday 
evening  in  June,  1759,  she  was  mobbed  in  Hyde  Park.  The  King  ordered  that, 
to  prevent  this  for  the  future,  she  should  have  a  guard;  and  on  the  next  Sun- 
day she  made  herself  ridiculous  by  walking  in  the  Park  from  8  till  10  p.m., 
with  two  sergeants  of  the  Guards  in  front  with  their  halberds,  and  twelve 
soldiers  following  her."  /).      ^   y^ig  xH  and  XXHI. 

12  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XXXH,  p.  201. 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


He  had  no  male  issue,  but  left  three  daughters,  the  ladies  Laura, 
Maria  and  Horatia  Waldegrave.  Than  these  three  beautiful  ladies 
Sir  Joshua  never  had  more  delightful  sitters,  and  in  none  of  his  pictures 
has  he  done  more  justice  to  beauty  than  in  the  very  fine  half-length 
portrait  group  of  them  that  belonged  to  Horace  Walpole  in  1782.^^ 

Maria,  now  Dowager  Countess  of  Waldegrave,  had  since  the  death  of 
Lady  Coventry  been  ''allowed  the  handsomest  woman  in  England." 
After  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  on  April  8,  1763,^*  she  was  sought 
in  marriage  by  the  Duke  of  Portland.  But  on  September  6,  1766,  she 
married,  secondly  and  privately.  His  Royal  Highness  William  Henry, 
Duke  of  Gloucester  and  Edinburgh.  He  was  born  November  14,  1743, 
and  so  was  seven  years  her  junior.    The  rite  was  solemnized  by  her 

13  That  group  passed  in  time  to  Mrs.  Thwaites,  by  whom  it  was  exhibited 
at  the  Guildhall,  London,  in  1890.  It  was  last  seen  at  Agnew's  in  1899.  Their 
bright  faces,  white  dresses  and  powdered  tetes,  as  they  sit  round  a  work-table, 
are  known  to  all.  Lady  Elizabeth  Laura  (1760-1816),  represented  in  the  centre, 
in  1782  married  her  cousin  George,  fourth  Earl  Waldegrave.  Lady  Charlotte 
Maria  (1761-1808),  on  the  left,  in  1784  married  George,  fourth  Duke  of  Graf- 
ton. Lady  Anna  Horatia  (1762-1801),  on  the  right,  in  1786  married  Admiral 
Lord  Hugh  Seymour.  Strangely  enough,  when  sitting  to  Sir  Joshua,  Lady  Maria 
was  lamenting  the  sudden  death  of  her  fiance,  the  young  Duke  of  Ancaster, 
and  Lady  Laura  was  suffering  under  a  disappointment  at  the  hands  of  Lord 
Caermarthen,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Leeds.  Walpole  wanted  Reynolds  to  draw 
them  as  "the  Graces  adorning  a  bust  of  the  Duchess  as  the  Magna  Mater,"  but 
his  ideas  were  not  adopted  by  the  painter,  who  presented  them  as  embroidering 
and  winding  silk.    (See  Graves  and  Cronin,  Vol.  HI,  p.  1017.) 

It  is  perhaps  worth  noting,  par  parenthese,  that  Ozias  Humphrey  made  a 
portrait  of  Lady  Horatia,  a  fact  which  was  much  insisted  upon  in  1917  in  the 
lawsuit  of  Huntington  ik  LcAvis  and  Simmons,  before  the  English  High  Court 
of  Justice. 

14  We  may  here  again  quote  with  advantage  from  the  Tozvn  and  Country 
Magazine,  January,  1769,  p.  14: 

"Upon  the  demise  of  L  d  W  ,  she  was  the  youngest  and  most  beauti- 
ful dowager  in  England;  and  consequently  more  than  ever  the  envy  of  the 
ladies  and  admiration  of  the  men;  the  first  said  her  charms  had  become 
more  formidable  by  her  title;  and  the  men  all  conceived  that  the  arms 
of  such  a  C  ss  communicated  raptures  in  despite  of  the  bar  of  heraldry. 

"Dorimont  had  at  this  time  just  attained  the  state  of  manhood,  and  was 
among  the  foremost  of  her  admirers.  His  rank,  his  person  and  his  abilities 
claimed  him  respect  and  applause,  not  only  from  ladies  of  the  highest 
birth,  but  also  from  the, most  shining  toasts  in  the  Kingdom.  His  heart  was 
as  yet  unattached,  and  a  complete  stranger  to  the  pleasing  pains  of  love; 
this  conquest  was  destined  for  Maria.  .  .  . 

"Dorimont,  we  find,  was  no  bad  prophet  .  .  . 

"Here  we  must  leave  them,  and  indulge  the  reader  in  his  own  conjectures 
concerning  the  real  situation  of  their  connexion,  as  Dorimont  and  Maria 
are  still  incessant  companions  and  professed  lovers." 

mi 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


chaplain  at  her  house  in  Pall  Mall.  The  secret  was  kept,  although  the 
Court  had  its  suspicions,  until  after  the  passing  of  the  Royal  Marriage 
Act.  Her  connection  with  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  brother  of  George 
III,  had  caused  serious  trouble  at  Court,^^  and  the  Royal  Marriage  Act, 
to  prevent  unions  of  this  kind,  had  been  passed  only  after  much  opposi- 
tion in  the  spring  of  1772.  Their  marriage  was  not  notified  to  the  King 
until  September  16,  1772;  and  had  the  act  been  retrospective,  it  would 
have  rendered  their  union  illegal. 

In  this  case,  unlike  that  of  George,  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards 
George  IV)  and  Mrs.  Fitzherbert,  or  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  and 
Mrs.  Horton  (who  "had  eyelashes  a  yard  long"),  the  royal  lover  was 
faithful  to  the  end — or  almost  so.  He  gave  up  everything  for  the  sake  of 
his  bride,  although  his  late  amour  with  Lady  Almeria  Carpenter,  lady  of 
the  Duchess's  bed-chamber,  rather  stained  his  record.  The  King  ban- 
ished him  from  Court  on  account  of  his  secret  marriage,  but  an  inquiry 
proved  the  validity  of  the  marriage.  The  Duke  and  Duchess  spent  much 
time  abroad,  chiefly  in  Italy,  and  their  eldest  daughter.  Princess  Sophia 
Matilda,  was  born  May  28,  1773.^'''   Provision  for  the  issue  of  the 

Walpole  wrote  to  the  Countess  of  Ossory,  "from  Berkeley  Square,  June 
16,  at  night": 

"Ignorance  was  the  cause  of  my  not  mentioning  the  reconciliation  of  the 
King  and  his  brothers.  I  knew  nothing  of  it  but  common  report  till  Tues- 
day last,  when  Miss  Keppel  told  me  in  a  postscript  that  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  had  asked  an  audience  and  been  graciously  received.  On  Thurs- 
day the  Duchess  herself  sent  me  word  of  it,  and  desired  me  to  come  to 
town.  I  came  to-day,  and  have  been  with  her  this  evening;  and  when  I 
came  away  just  now,  which  was  past  eleven,  the  Duke  was  not  come  back 
from  Kew,  where  he  had  been  to  pass  the  evening  with  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  Not  a  word  has  passed  between  the  brothers  about  the  Duchess. 
But  you  may  understand  that  the  two  Dukes  have  different  ideas,  for  the 
Duke  of  Cumberland  was  at  the  drawing-room  yesterday  without  his 
Duchess,  and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  was  not."  See  Toynbee,  Vol.  VII, 
p.  403,  letter  1937. 

In  this  connection,  see  our  remarks  (p.  129)  on  the  Prince's  treatment  of 
Mary  Robinson,  painted  by  Reynolds,  in  this  collection. 

17  In  a  letter  of  January  24,  1775,  Walpole  writes  of  the  very  serious  illness 
of  the  Duke,  who,  however,  was  to  survive  another  thirty  years.    His  words 

^^^*  "I  am  very  sorry  to  tell  you  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  is  dying.  About 
three  weeks  ago  the  physicians  said  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  him 
to  go  abroad  immediately.  He  now  cannot  go,  and  probably  will  not  live 
many  days,  as  he  has  had  two  shivering  fits,  and  the  physicians  give  the 
Duchess  no  hopes.  Her  affliction  and  courage  are  not  to  be  described: 
they  take  their  turns  as  she  is  in  the  room  with  him  or  not.  His  are  still 
greater.  His  heart  is  broken,  and  yet  his  firmness  and  coolness  amazing.  I 
pity  her  beyond  measure." 

1:783 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


marriage  was  eventually  made  in  1788,  and  two  years  later  Maria's 
husband  was  restored  to  royal  favour.  Yet  reasons  of  state  and  court  eti- 
quette seem  to  have  restrained  the  impulse  of  the  King's  feelings  regard- 
ing "the  distinguished  object"  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester's  choice. 

On  August  25,  1805,  Maria's  second  husband  died  at  Gloucester 
House,  Grosvenor  Street,  from  "great  decay  of  the  liver."  A  polite 
scholar  and  an  accomplished  gentleman,  we  are  told,  he  was  distinguished 
"more  by  equanimity  than  splendid  or  showy  talents." 

In  due  course,  on  August  23,  1807,  Maria  herself  passed  away,  the 
immediate  occasion  of  her  death  being  "an  effusion  of  water  in  the  cav- 
ity of  her  chest."  In  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine  of  the  following  month 
we  read  that  "the  fortitude  with  which  the  Duchess  bore  many  afflictions, 
the  dignified  forbearance  she  exhibited  to  her  unmerited  enemies,  and 
the  extensive  charities  she  dispensed  towards  the  wretched,  are  personal 
honours  that  should  be  spoken  of  in  lieu  of  those  of  descent,  and  which 
are  of  a  nature  that  probably  have  placed  her  spirit  in  a  situation  of  pre- 
eminence in  Heaven,  and  which  ought  not  to  pass  on  earth." 

From  Brompton,  where  she  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  her  remains 
were  removed  to  Windsor,  "the  proceedings  being  suitable  to  her  rank, 
without  any  unnecessary  parade  or  ostentation."  As  the  procession  did 
not  reach  Windsor  until  half  past  eight  o'clock,  the  funeral  took  place  in 
St.  George's  Chapel  on  August  31,  1807. 

By  her  second  husband  she  left  one  son,  William  Frederick,  and  two 

daughters.    He  was  born  in  Rome,  January  15,  1776,  and  succeeded  as 

the  second  Duke  of  Gloucester,  but  d.  s.  p.,  November  30,  1834,  when  his 

honours  became  extinct.^^   The  elder  of  the  daughters,  Sophia  Matilda, 

IS  "During  the  time  that  Benjamin  West  was  engaged  in  the  series  of  great 
pictures  for  Windsor  Castle,  he  enjoyed,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  an  easy 
and  confidential  intercourse  with  the  King,  and  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  stated 
earlier  that,  when  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  the  late 
Duke  of  Gloucester  called  on  him,  and  mentioned  that  his  Majesty  was  desirous 
to  know  if  the  honour  of  knighthood  would  be  acceptable.  Mr.  West  immedi- 
ately replied  that  no  man  had  a  greater  respect  for  political  honours  and 
distinctions  than  himself,  but  that  he  really  thought  he  had  already  earned  by 
his  pencil  more  eminence  than  could  be  conferred  on  him  by  rank.  *The  chief 
value,'  said  he,  *of  titles  are  [jic]  that  they  serve  to  preserve  in  families  a 
respect  for  those  principles  by  which  such  distinctions  were  originally  obtained. 
But  simple  knighthood,  to  a  man  who  is  at  least  already  as  well  known  as  he 
could  ever  hope  to  be  from  that  honour,  is  not  a  legitimate  object  of  ambition. 
To  myself,  then,  your  Royal  Highness  must  perceive,  the  title  could  add  no 
dignity;  and  as  it  would  perish  with  myself,  it  could  add  none  to  my  family. 
But  were  I  possessed  of  a  fortune,  independent  of  my  profession,  sufficient  to 
enable  my  posterity  to  maintain  the  rank,  I  think  that  with  my  hereditary 

1191 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


born  in  1773,  died  in  1844;  the  younger,  Caroline  Augusta,  born  1774, 
lived  only  until  1775. 

Maria's  importance  as  a  subordinate  character  in  English  history  may 
be  summed  up  in  the  fact  that  she  was  a  sister-in-law  of  George  III, 
aunt  of  George  IV,  and  grand-aunt  of  Queen  Victoria.  She  was  also 
a  sister-in-law  of  Henry  Frederick,  Duke  of  Cumberland. 

Again  we  may  quote  from  Walpole.  He  says  that  Maria  was  "very 
pious,  charitable,  sincere,  frank  and  friendly,  but  warm  and  resentful; 
her  sense  strong;  her  wit  ready  and  very  pointed."  Admirable! 


This  is,  doubtless,  the  picture  mentioned  by  Fulcher,  in  his  "Life  of 
Gainsborough,"  1856  (p.  184),  as  being  by  that  artist  and  then  in  the 
collection  of  the  Duchess  of  Gloucester.  It  is  noted,  however,  that  he 
there  describes  it  as  a  "w.  1.,"  or  whole  length. 

It  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1779,  No.  98,  under  the  title 
of  "Her  Royal  Highness  the  Dutchess  [sic]  of  Gloucester."  Walpole, 
in  his  notes  on  that  occasion,  records  that  it  was  "very  good  and  like" 
(Graves:  "Royal  Academy  Exhibitors,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  192). 

Apparently  our  portrait  had  never  been  published  in  any  way — sub- 
sequent to  its  mention  by  Fulcher,  of  course — until,  in  1903,  Lord  Ron- 
ald Sutherland  Gower  reproduced  it  in  his  monograph  on  "Gains- 
borough." But  there  he,  in  error,  lettered  the  plate  (page  81)  as  "Anne 
Lutterell  [sic],  Duchess  of  Cumberland." 

It  was  included  in  the  sale  of  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge 
at  Christie's,  June  11,  1904,  No.  85,  and  was  sold  to  Agnew."^^ 

descent,  and  the  station  I  occupy  among  artists,  a  more  permanent  title  than  that 
of  knighthood  might  become  a  desirable  object.  As  it  is,  however,  that  cannot 
be,  and  I  have  been  thus  explicit  with  your  Royal  Highness  that  no  misconcep- 
tion may  exist  on  the  subject.'  The  Duke  was  not  only  pleased  with  the  answer, 
but  took  Mr.  West  cordially  by  both  the  hands,  and  said:  'You  have  justified  the 
opinion  which  the  King  has  of  you,  and  his  Majesty  will  be  delighted  with 
your  answer' ;  and  when  Mr.  West  next  saw  the  King  his  reception  was  un- 
usually warm  and  friendly." 

John  Gait:  "Life  of  Benjamin  West,"  1820,  part  2,  pp.  189-190. 

19  A  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  by  Romney,  is  in  the  collection 
of  Judge  Elbert  H.  Gary. 

20  It  had  not  been  included  in  "The  Catalogue  of  those  highly  celebrated 
and  matchless  chef  d'ceuvres  [sic^  of  the  Italian  and  English  Schools  .  .  .  the 
genuine  property  of  the  late  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  Deceased, 
and  removed  from  his  mansion  in  Upper  Grosvenor  Street,  which  will  be  sold 
by  Mr.  Christie  at  his  Great  Room,  Pall  Mall,  on  Saturday,  17  May,  1806,  at 
12  o'clock." 

C80] 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


The  Times,  London,  June  9,  1904,  announcing  the  sale,  stated: 

"The  Duke  of  Cambridge's  pictures,  which  are  now  hung  on 
Christie's  walls,  form  the  largest  collection  of  portraits  of  the  reign- 
ing house  that  has  ever  been  offered  for  sale.  Apparently  all  were 
inherited,  for  none  is  of  later  date  than  about  the  year  1840.  All, 
in  fact,  represent  George  III  and  his  family,  with  their  husbands 
and  wives.  By  far  the  finest  is  Gainsborough's  'Maria  Walpole, 
Countess  of  Waldegrave  and  Duchess  of  Gloucester,'  Horace  Wal- 
pole's  beautiful  niece.  .  .  . 

"The  picture  is  of  kit-cat  size;  the  lady,  with  a  high  powdered 
tete,  sits,  leaning  on  her  left  hand  and  looking  upwards.  Her  dress 
is  of  a  golden  tint,  with  pearl  ornaments,  all  painted  with  the  most 
consummate  mastery." 

The  Times,  June  13,  1904,  recording  the  sale,  says: 

"The  honours  of  the  day  distinctly  fell  to  Gainsborough,  whose 
beautiful  portrait  of  Maria  Walpole,  to  which  reference  was  made 
in  the  Times  of  Thursday,  has  established  a  record  price  for  this 
artist's  pictures  at  auction.  .  .  .  Bidding  was  started  on  Saturday 
at  5000  guineas,  and  in  rather  more  than  half  a  dozen  bids  reached 
12,100  guineas,  at  which  it  was  knocked  down  to  Messrs.  Agnew  & 
Sons.  The  price,  therefore,  quite  eclipses  the  10,100  guineas  paid 
in  1876  for  the  famous  stolen  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  which  re- 
mained the  record  price  for  a  Gainsborough  until  Saturday.  .  .  . 
It  is  of  interest  to  point  out  that  the  late  Duke  of  Cambridge  in- 
herited nearly  all  his  art-treasures,  as  well  as  Gloucester  House, 
from  his  aunt,  the  second  and  last  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  who  died 
in  1857." 

Exhibited  at  Messrs.  Agnew's  Galleries,  London,  1904,  No.  9.  On 
that  occasion  it  again  drew  forth  laudatory  comments  in  the  press.  The 
Times,  November  8,  1904,  mentions  that: 

"This  is  the  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Gloucester  which  was  the 
gem  of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge's  sale  last  season,  and  which  was  the 
object  of  such  an  heroic  combat  in  the  auction- room.  .  .  ." 

Sir  Claude  Phillips  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  November  21,  1904,  says: 
"The  important  Gainsborough:  'Maria  Walpole,  Duchess  of 
Gloucester,'  is  here — the  picture  which  at  the  sale  of  the  late  Duke 
of  Cambridge's  Collection  fetched  what  it  is  the  fashion  to  call  a 


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record  price.  The  canvas  has  been  successfully  cleaned  since  it  was 
at  Christie's;  yet,  as  we  think,  not  without  some  abatement  of  its 
peculiar  accent  and  charm,— at  any  rate,  as  regards  the  rich,  sombre 
brown-gold  costume.  The  head  is  in  handling  of  incomparable  mas- 
tery, and  the  portrait  as  a  whole  has  a  piquancy  which  can  measure 
itself  on  at  least  equal  terms  with  the  most  perfect  loveliness.  Ex- 
perience of  life  has  made  the  lady  not  stale,  but  only  more  womanly 
and  attractive ;  there  is  a  reflection  as  well  as  a  fire  in  the  handsome 
eyes,  still  bright  and  eager  as  only  the  eyes  of  Gainsborough's  women 
are." 

The  Guardian,  November  30,  1904,  wrote  that: 

*'It  represents  the  proud  beauty  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  [she  was 
in  fact  forty-two],  and  is  painted  in  Gainsborough's  finest  manner, 
with  superb  distinction  as  well  as  rare  finish  and  delicacy." 

"The  Majestic,  which  arrived  yesterday,  brought  two  paintings  val- 
ued at  $60,000  each.  One  was  a  Gainsborough,  'The  Duchess  of 
Gloucester,'  and  the  other  was  a  canvas  said  to  be  by  Andrea  del 
Sarto : 

'The  Holy  Family,'  said  to  be  dated  1450. 

"Under  a  special  ruling  of  the  Custom  House,  the  paintings  were 
allowed  to  be  taken  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  The  gov- 
ernment officials  were  afraid  to  take  the  risk  of  having  the  paintings 
taken  to  the  Public  Stores  for  appraisement.  The  Gainsborough  is 
packed  in  a  case  almost  four  feet  by  five.  There  is  a  frame  for  the 
latter  in  another  case. 

"Mr.  said  that  the  Del  Sarto  was  intended  for  the  Metropoli- 
tan Museum  of  Art,  subject  to  approval;  the  other,  he  said,  would 
probably  be  disposed  of  by  private  sale." 

The  New  York  Tribune,  January  13,  1905. 

(The  placing  of  such  a  date  as  1450  on  any  canvas  by  Andrea  del  Sarto 
would  have  been  somewhat  of  a  feat,  seeing  that  he  was  not  born  until 
i486!  In  any  event,  no  picture  by  that  artist  is  to-day  in  the  Metropoli- 
tan Museum.) 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  7. 
Burlington  Magazine,  19 10,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 

"The  Gainsborough  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Gloucester— high-bred, 
distingue,  a  woman  of  fashion,  a  beauty  in  her  rich  dress,  new 


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patrician  air.  She  wears  a  great  head-dress,  is  gowned  appropriately, 
the  canvas  is  brushed  in  with  authority,  and  one  is  certain  of  the 
likeness." 

International  Studio,  igio,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  Ixxiv. 
Putnanis  Magazine,  February,  1910,  Vol.  VII,  p.  525. 


There  is  good  ground  for  the  belief,  according  to  Whitley  ("Gains- 
borough," p.  96),  that  Gainsborough  painted  a  portrait  of  Maria, 
Duchess  of  Gloucester,  which  he  thought  exceptionally  good  and  which 
he  sent  in  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  1772.  ''We  hear,"  says  the  Public 
Advertiser  of  May  4,  1772, 

''that  the  gentlemen  upon  the  Committee  for  managing  the  Royal 
Academy  have  been  guilty  of  a  scandalous  meanness  to  a  capital  artist 
by  secreting  a  whole-length  picture  of  an  English  Countess  for  fear 
their  Majesties  should  see  it;  and  this  only  upon  a  full  conviction 
that  it  was  the  best  finished  picture  sent  in  this  year  to  the  Exhibi- 
tion. The  same  artist  has  been  affronted  in  this  manner  several  times 
before,  from  which  they  may  depend  upon  his  implacable  resent- 
ment, and  will  hear  from  him  in  a  manner  that  will  very  much  dis- 
please them." 

Her  marriage  to  the  Duke  not  then  being  known,  the  reference  to  Maria 
as  "an  English  Countess"  is  obvious.  It  was  only  a  short  time  before  the 
opening  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  that  year  that  the  Royal  Marriage  Bill 
had  become  law.  Quite  naturally.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  as  President, 
and  knowing  the  King's  angry  feeling  towards  Maria,  would  be  anxious 
to  avoid,  so  early  in  the  Academy's  history,  offending  its  founder  and 
patron.  He  thus,  no  doubt,  felt  it  advisable  to  keep  the  portrait — if 
hers  it  was — out  of  that  year's  Exhibition.  Curiously  enough,  it  was 
the  treatment  by  the  Academy  of  a  portrait  of  the  Duchess's  daughter. 
Lady  Horatia,  that  embittered  Gainsborough  in  1783,  and  led  up  to 
the  circumstances  which,  a  year  later,  brought  about  the  final  rupture. 

In  1775  it  is  recorded,  in  the  Morning  Chronicle,  that  "the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Gloucester  ^re  often  going  to  a  famous  painter's  in  Pall 
Mall  [where,  of  course,  Gainsborough  then  lived]  ;  and  it  is  reported 
that  he  is  now  doing  both  their  pictures,  which  are  intended  to  be  pre- 
sented to  a  Great  Lady"  (Whitley:  "Gainsborough,"  p.  116). 


1:83] 


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It  is  in  such  circumstances,  therefore,  that  we  have  gradually  passed 
to  a  consideration  of  the  present  portrait  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1779. 
The  writer  in  the  St.  James's  Chronicle,  in  that  year,  found  fault  with 
the  expression  of  the  face  in  the  portrait  of  the  Duchess.  He  thought 
the  portrait  finely  drawn,  and  a  striking  likeness,  but  felt  that  Gains- 
borough was  less  happy  in  his  attitudes  than  Sir  Joshua.  He  added  that 
"the  Duchess  had  been  so  much  in  public  that  the  artist  should  have 
been  very  attentive  to  the  expression  of  her  countenance,  which  is  never 
that  of  contemplation,  but  always  of  a  placid  good  nature." 

Engraved  by  J.  B.  Pratt. 

The  portraits  of  her,  by  different  artists,  show  the  keen  eyes,  arched 
mouth,  slightly  Roman  nose,  and  rich  hair  growing  low  on  the  forehead, 
sometimes  turned  back  beneath  a  coiffure.  Reynolds  painted  her  fre- 
quently from  1759  onwards.  Such  a  portrait,  for  which  £21  was  paid, 
was  exhibited  at  the  Society  of  Artists  in  1 761— seven  years  before  the 
Royal  Academy  was  founded.  It  is,  like  others,  in  the  collection  of 
Earl  Waldegrave.  Another  represents  her,  with  her  daughter  by  her 
first  marriage,  Lady  Elizabeth  Laura,  in  the  Musee  at  Chantilly.  She 
is  in  the  catalogue  described  as  "belle  d'une  beaute  presque  impersonnelle 
a  force  de  calme  et  de  serenite.  .  .  .  Les  traits  de  la  jeune  femme  sont 
d'une  regularite  parfaite.  La  couleur  de  toute  cette  peinture  est  d'une 
harmonic  douce,  chaude  et  pour  ainsi  dire  caressante  .  .  .  partout  vi- 
brante,  discrete." 

In  another  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  she  is  in  mourning,  and  wears  a 
black  veil  over  her  head.  A  whole-length  of  her,  also  by  him,  was  found 
in  a  hay-loft  at  Navestock,  where  it  probably  had  been  placed  when  the 
old  Hall  was  pulled  down.  A  whole-length  portrait  of  her  by  the  Presi- 
dent was  shown  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1774,  No.  214;  she  had  sat 
for  it  in  1771,  but  now  the  finishing  touches  had  been  put  to  the  por- 
trait, intended,  no  longer  with  any  mystery,  for  the  Duke. 

"The  Duchess  of  Gloucester  carried  her  honours  with  great  dignity 
and  self-respect,  and  earned  the  esteem  of  her  royal  relations.  .  .  . 
The  beautiful  Countess  Waldegrave  was  one  of  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds's favourite  sitters.  She  sat  to  him  in  1759,  after  her  mar- 
riage, for  the  full-length  portrait  in  peeress's  robes  which  belongs 
to  the  present  Earl  Waldegrave,  and  again  in  1761  and  1762  for 
the  well-known  portrait  in  a  turban,  and  for  the  Madonna-like 
group  with  her  child,  which  was  bequeathed  by  Frances,  Countess 


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Waldegrave,  to  the  Due  d'Aumale,  and  is  now  in  the  Conde  Col- 
lection at  Chantilly.  She  sat  again  to  Reynolds  in  1764,  as  a  widow 
in  mourning  for  her  husband,  and  more  than  once  again  during  her 
widowhood.  She  sat  to  him  in  October,  1767,  when  really  Duchess 
of  Gloucester,  for  a  portrait  to  be  given  to  her  father,  Sir  Edward 
Walpole. 

"After  the  marriage  had  been  revealed  to  the  world,  the  Duchess 
of  Gloucester  sat  to  Reynolds,  in  1771,  for  the  full-length  seated  por- 
trait now  at  Buckingham  Palace.  This  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  1774  [and  at  the  Grafton  Galleries,  1909-10.  See 
Graves,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  363].  This  portrait  descended  to  her  daughter, 
H.R.H.  Princess  Sophia  Matilda  of  Gloucester,  who  at  her  death  in 
November,  1844,  bequeathed  the  portrait  to  H.R.H.  Prince  Albert,, 
the  late  Prince  Consort. 

''The  Duchess  of  Gloucester  sat  for  the  last  time  to  Reynolds 
in  1779  for  a  group  of  herself  and  her  daughter,  Princess  Sophia 
Matilda." 

L.  Cust:  "The  Royal  Collection  of  Paintings,"  Vol.  I,  1905.2^  ! 

Prince  Frederick  of  Hesse  lent  to  the  Exhibition  held  in  Berlin  in  1908 
(No.  81)  a  portrait  of  "Maria,  Duchess  of  Gloucester,"  by  Reynolds. 
Fairfax  Murray  exhibited  at  Paris  in  1909  (No.  41),  among  the  "Cent 
Portraits,"  a  portrait  of  her,  also  by  Sir  Joshua.^^ 

Of  his  lovely  sitter  Sir  Joshua  always  spoke  in  terms  of  the  highest 
praise.  In  quite  modern  times  a  lock  of  delicate  golden-brown  hair, 
with  a  ticket  bearing  the  name  of  "Maria,  Countess  of  Waldegrave," 
was  found  in  Sir  Joshua's  pocket-book. 

Included  in  the  Duke  of  Cambridge's  sale,  in  1904,  were  also  portraits 
of  Maria  by  Sir  Joshua,  Beechey,  and  Hoppner.  The  first  of  these,  in 
a  white  muslin  dress  embroidered  with  gold,  and  a  white  turban,  fetched 
1400  guineas;  the  second,  painted  late  in  life  and  in  a  black  and  white 
dress  and  black  head-dress,  reached  60  guineas;  and  the  last,  in  a  black 
dress  and  seated  at  a  table,  420  guineas. 

As  early  as  1774  the  London  Magazine  contained  an  engraved  portrait 
of  "Maria,  Dutchess  \_sic~\  of  Gloucester,"  whose  face  was  held  to  be 
one  of  those  which  "throw  unrivalled  lustre  round  the  drawing  room  of 

21  Cust  has  overlooked  the  present  portrait,  presumably  of  1779. 
22Graves:  "Century  of  Loan  Exhibitions,"  1913,  pp.  1089-90. 


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the  British  Court."    It  was  apparently  the  picture  (No.  109)  in  the 
Duke  of  Cambridge's  sale.   Below  the  following  lines  are  inscribed  : 
"In  beauty's  rank  'twas  Glo'ster's  part  to  please, 
A  form  so  witching  blending  grace  with  ease, 
The  pow'rs  of  love  beheld  the  crown  of  charms, 
And  judg'd  her  worthy  e'en  of  royal  arms." 

La  Belle  Assemble,  1806,  Vol.  I,  pt.  2,  p.  445,  contains  Hopwood's  en- 
graving of  her  after  Reynolds. 

In  Cunningham's  edition  of  ''Walpole's  Letters,"  1866,  Vol.  Ill,  p. 
170,  is  seen  S.  Bull's  engraving  of  her  portrait,  which  was  in  1857  still 
at  Strawberry  Hill. 

Miniature  portraits  of  her  were  also  painted  by  Ozias  Humphrey  and 
Richard  Cosway. 

The  introduction  of  a  parapet  or,  indeed,  of  any  kind  of  architectural 
setting  in  a  portrait  of  kit-cat^s  size  is  most  unusual.  The  left  arm  rest- 
ing on  the  parapet,  and  the  large  scale  on  which  the  head  is  here  painted, 
confirm  our  view  that  our  canvas  was  originally,  as  Fulcher  claims,  a 
whole-length.  This  canvas  to-day  is  almost  exactly  kit-cat  size.  It  may 
well  have  been  cut  down  to  meet  the  requirements  of  hanging.  Half 
a  century  ago  such  a  practice  was  not  unknown,  especially  in  the  English 
royal  collections.^"*  We  need  not  attach  any  importance  to  a  fact  which 
we  have  recently  discovered  that,  in  the  sale  of  Mrs.  Gainsborough's 
possessions  on  April  10,  1797,  there  was  a  "Duchess  of  Gloucester,"  a 
kit-cat,  by  (or  attributed  to)  Gainsborough.  It  was  No.  27  in  the 
catalogue.  As  it  was  sold  to  "Duval"  for  £2  lOs.j  we  need  not  seriously 
discuss  it. 

23  A  kit-cat,  strictly  speaking,  is  a  canvas  for  a  portrait  less  than  a  half- 
length,  but  including  the  hands,  and  measuring  36  inches  by  28  inches.  It  is 
so  called  from  the  portraits  of  the  members  of  the  club  at  Barn  Elms,  who  seem 
to  have  originally  met  in  the  pie-house  kept  in  Shire  Lane,  London,  by  one 
Kit  {i.e.,  Christopher)  Cat.  Those  portraits  are  now  in  the  Baker  Collection 
at  Bayfordbury,  near  Hertford. 

24  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  lower  portion  of  the  canvas  of  Gains- 
borough's "Eldest  Princesses"  was  very  unceremoniously  cut  away  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


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JOHN  HOPPNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  iy^8-i8io 

BORN  in  London  of  German  parentage,  and  in  strange 
circumstances,  he  in  1775  entered  the  Royal  Academy 
Schools.  Five  years  later  he  exhibited  for  the  first  time, 
his  initial  success  being  gained  with  a  pretty  fancy  portrait  of 
Phoebe  Wright,  a  member  of  a  Quaker  family.  Only  twice 
thereafter  did  he  fail  to  exhibit,  viz.,  in  1801,  when  he  broke 
his  arm,  and  in  1808,  when  he  was  ill  and  his  life  was  near- 
ing  its  end.  From  the  outset  he  was  a  remarkable  portrait 
painter,  having  early  developed  his  art  under  the  influence  of 
Reynolds;  in  his  later  time  he  was  regarded  as  "the  most  dar- 
ing plagiarist  of  Reynolds,"  and  so  came  to  "divide"  the  town 
with  Lawrence,  who  was  his  more  or  less  friendly  rival.  It 
was,  perhaps,  fortunate  for  both  that  Raeburn  continued  to 
work  in  his  native  Scotland.  Yet  Hoppner  painted  with  tech- 
nical skill  and  an  admixture  of  sensuous  charm;  nor  did  his 
manner  undergo  the  changes  that  enable  us  to  date  the  un- 
signed works  of  his  great  predecessors,  Reynolds  and  Gains- 
borough. By  the  end  of  the  century,  while  still  retaining  his 
vogue,  he  allowed  carelessness  and  a  certain  degree  of  shallow- 
ness to  outweigh  the  qualities  of  his  best  period.  Consequently, 
by  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  collectors  were  not  al- 
ways willing  to  recognize  the  merits  of  his  artistic  productions. 
Although  he  went  on  many  a  sketching  tour,  he  is  to-day  en- 
tirely unknown  as  a  landscape  painter.  By  no  means  the 
compeer  of  Reynolds,  his  best  portraits  are  remarkable  for 
their  faithful  likeness,  their  daintiness  and  a  certain  charm. 
His  was  a  caustic  tongue,  and  Samuel  Rogers  tells  us  that  he 
had  an  "awful  temper."  His  death,  following  on  years  of  un- 
happiness,  left  Lawrence  an  undisputed  field. 

1:873 


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No.  22    Portrait  of  Miss  Agnes  Coussmaker. 

Half-length  figure,  standing  in  a  landscape  and  turned  to 
the  left,  as  she  looks  out  at  the  spectator.  In  a  low-cut  white 
dress,  with  light  blue  sash.  Her  fair,  curly  hair,  bound  with  a 
blue  ribbon,  covers  her  ears  and  falls  upon  her  shoulders. 
Landscape  background  to  the  left,  with  lowering  sky. 

Canvas,  29  inches  by  24^  inches.  (0.73  xo.62) 

Painted  in  1788. 

Agnes  Katherine  Coussmaker  was  the  third  daughter  of  John  Couss- 
maker, of  Westwood,  Normandy,  Guildford,  Surrey,  by  his  wife,  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  William  Newman,  of  Baconthorpe,  Norfolk.  She  was 
born  in  1768,  and  married  Rev.  W.  K.  Heath,  of  Inkborough,  Worces- 
ter.   She  died  in  1824. 

The  Coussmaker  family  were  descended  from  Jacques  de  Coussmaker 
{circa  1520),  of  West  Flanders.  John,  one  of  his  descendants  (born 
circa  1667),  came  to  England  during  the  reign  of  William  III  and 
bought  Westwood.    (M.  F.  Tweedie.) 

Exhibited  at  Messrs.  Agnew's  Galleries,  London,  1905,  No.  16. 

Exhibited  on  loan  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  9,  and  in  Febru- 
ary, 1913,  No.  I. 

Engraved  in  mezzotint  by  Norman  Hirst,  1906,  17^  inches  by  14)^ 
inches. 

McKay  and  W.  Roberts:  "John  Hoppner,"  1909,  pp.  58  and  332. 

It  is  perhaps  worth  noting  that  Colonel  George  Coussmaker  (born 
1759;  married  1790)  sat  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  in  1782;  his  portrait 
(Graves  and  Cronin:  "Works  of  Reynolds,"  No.  199)  was  lent  by  Lord 
de  Clifford  to  the  British  Institution  in  1813;  it  also  appeared  at  Bur- 
lington House  in  1875,  No.  159. 

Burlington  Magazine,  1910,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 

"John  Hoppner  signs  [sic']  the  half-length  of  Miss  Coussmaker,  a  can- 
vas painted  in  1788,  brilliant  in  its  way,  characteristic  of  the  time, 
a  characterful  presentation  of  the  femininity  of  the  day." 

International  Studio,  1910,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  Ixxiv. 

There  is,  by  the  way,  no  known  instance  of  Hoppner's  signing  a  picture. 

1:883 


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FRANCISCO  GOYA 

Spanish  School;  1246-1828 
No.  23    Portrait  of  the  Toreador,  Joaquin  Rodriguez 

COSTILLARES. 

Bust  length,  turned  slightly  towards  the  right.  In  the  fanci- 
ful green  and  gold  doublet  of  his  profession  lined  with  black, 
red  vest,  white  scarf  and  blue  cap.    Dark  background. 

Canvas,  20  inches  by  i6j^  inches.  (0.50x0.41) 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  the  Conde  de  Asalto  at  Madrid,  and  pur- 
chased from  the  collection  of  Senor  Enrique  Puncet,  whose  wife  was  a 
niece  of  the  late  Senor  Beruete. 

Exhibited  at  the  National  Exhibition  of  Portraits,  Madrid,  No.  677. 
Mentioned  by  Von  Loga:  "Goya,"  1903,  p.  194,  No.  200;  by  Stokes: 
"Goya,"  p.  330,  under  No.  79;  and  by  A.  de  Beruete,  "Goya,"  1916,  p. 
175,  No.  144- 

Another  portrait  of  Costillares  by  Goya  is  in  the  Lazaro  Galdeano  Col- 
lection. Another,  in  that  of  Senor  Jose  Lazaro,  is  reproduced  by 
Calvert:  "Goya,"  1908,  p.  133,  No.  106,  plate  39;  and  by  Stokes,  p. 
238.  A  small  one  (11  inches  x  8^^  inches)  was  in  the  D.  Placido  Zu- 
loaga  Collection,  and  subsequently  in  that  of  M.  Ivan  Stchoukine  in 
Paris. 

Goya  is  known  to  have  joined  a  cuadrilla  of  bull-fighters,  and  to  have 
made  his  way  from  town  to  town  and  so  reached  an  Andalusian  port, 
where  he  embarked  for  Italy  in  his  student  days.  He  studied  the  de- 
tails of  the  toreador's  life,  the  elegance  of  the  banderilleros,  the  knightly 
movement  of  the  picadores,  and  the  calm  deliberation  of  the  espada. 
As  a  prominent  supporter  of  the  bull-ring,  Goya  counted  among  his 
friends,  and  painted  the  portraits  of,  both  Costillares  and  Jose  Romero. 
Moreover,  he  has  left  us  thirty-three  etchings  of  his  Tauromachia. 

Costillares,  whose  real  name  was  Joaquin  Rodriguez,  is  said  to  have 
introduced  a  new  style  of  bull-fighting,  for  it  was  he  who  first  "made 

1:89: 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


the  attempt  to  go  at  the  bull  with  a  sword,  instead  of  waiting  for  the 
charge  of  the  animal." 

"In  1789  gossip  reported  that  the  two  Duchesses  [of  Alba  and  Osuna] 
disputed  the  patronage  of  Costillares  and  Romero,  the  most  cele- 
brated bull-fighters  of  Spain.  Their  despicable  dissoluteness,  writes 
one  historian,  was  of  public  notoriety.  High  and  low,  at  court 
and  in  the  town,  all  spoke  of  the  affair.  It  was  the  theme  of  daily 
conversation.  The  episodes,  the  bursts  of  passion  and  generosity 
of  each  rival,  were  related  with  full  details.  But  no  one  was 
shocked  at  the  immorality,  the  insolence,  and  the  scandal  of  this 
struggle.  .  .  When  Goya  succeeded,  as  in  the  Toreador  Costil- 
lares, and  other  portraits  ready  to  mind,  he  ranks  with  the  great 
masters  of  his  craft." 

Stokes:  'Trancisco  Goya,"  1914,  pp.  187  and  235. 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 
English  School;  1^^4-1802 

BORN  near  Dalton-in-Furness  and  so  far  removed  from 
close  contact  with  artists,  his  earliest  endeavours  were 
in  every  way  humble.  Thus,  we  are  told,  he  painted 
for  a  local  post-office  window  a  hand  holding  a  letter.  Even 
when  he  set  himself  seriously  to  study  painting,  he  had  seen 
no  gallery  of  pictures.  Nor  did  he  learn  much  more  than  the 
rudiments  of  his  art  under  the  direction  of  Steel,  to  whom  he 
was  apprenticed.  Careful  and  conscientious,  he  developed  his 
manner,  and  by  1762  saw  the  necessity  of  migrating  to  Lon- 
don, where  he  was  to  spend  nearly  the  whole  of  the  next  forty 
years  away  from  his  wife  and  family.  A  trip  to  Paris  in  1764, 
and  a  tour  in  Italy  in  1 773-1 775,  determined  his  style.  When 
he  settled  in  1776  in  Cavendish  Square,  his  hopes  ran  high  and 
his  fees  were  moderate.  Thus  a  year  later  he  gave  six  hun- 
dred sittings.  From  April,  1782,  "The  Divine  Emma,"  after- 
wards Lady  Hamilton,  began  to  sit  to  him  for  another  of  the 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


forty-five  pictures  of  her  that  survive.  He  practised  his  art 
honestly  and  loved  it  fervently,  so  that  in  his  painting-room  he 
seemed  to  have  the  highest  enjoyment  of  life.  Hayley,  by 
flattery,  gained  much  influence  over  Romney,  who,  never  hav- 
ing consented  to  exhibit  at  the  Royal  Academy,  was  not  eligible 
for  membership.  And  it  must  be  admitted  that,  following  on 
the  secession  of  Gainsborough  from  the  annual  exhibitions, 
the  canvases  of  Romney,  who  made  concessions  to  the  artistic 
conventions  of  his  age  and  ever  aimed  at  the  grand  style, 
would  have  attracted  the  town.  Possibly  his  refusal  to  exhibit 
hastened  public  oblivion  of  his  art;  for  fifty  years  after  his 
death  art-writers  and  the  public  alike  had  little  praise  to  be- 
stow on  his  work.  But  on  the  inauguration  of  the  exhibitions 
of  Old  Masters  at  Burlington  House  in  1870,  he  came  into  his 
own,  as,  indeed,  did  Raeburn.  Since  then  his  reputation  has 
increased  so  extraordinarily  that  his  name  is  to-day  uttered, 
by  some  with  extravagant  praise.  He  dearly  loved  to  impart 
to  his  sitters  an  apparently  classical  aspect,  sometimes  by  the 
use  of  a  wide  facial  angle,  deep-sunk  eyes  and  an  ennobled 
brow.  His  design,  having  been  learnt  in  Italy,  was  ample 
and  graceful,  and  at  its  best  may  be  termed  grand.  But  at  the 
very  end  of  his  career  his  composition  was,  at  times,  character- 
ized by  a  recipe-like  shallowness,  allied  with  a  mask-like  con- 
tour. In  one  respect,  however,  he  surpasses  the  great  Rey- 
nolds, strange  as  this  may  seem  to  many:  his  pictures,  being 
painted  in  pure,  liquid  colour  with  sound  technique — and  not 
experimentally  with  bitumen,  lamp-black  and  wax,  as  were  so 
many  of  Reynolds's  works — are  to-day  exceptionally  well  pre- 
served. Yet,  with  this  technical  foresight  Romney  is  not  al- 
ways credited. 

No.  24    Portrait  of  Mrs.  John  Johnson. 

Half  length,  turned  towards  the  left.  In  a  white  dress  with 
blue  sash,  and  a  large  blue  hat  with  blue  ribbons.  Her  hair 
is  powdered  and  falls  over  her  ears  and  upon  her  shoulders. 
Her  hands  are  clasped  on  her  lap.   Sky  background. 

1:90 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


Canvas,  29  inches  by  24^/2  inches.  (0.73  xo.62) 

Probably  painted  in  1786. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Johnson,  nee  Ponsonby,  of  Walton  House  (now  Castle- 
steads),  near  Brompton,  Cumberland,  married  John  Johnson,  Novem- 
ber 30,  1786.  She  died  January  15,  1792.  They  had  two  sons  and 
two  daughters.  The  elder  son,  William  Ponsonby  (born  1789;  died 
1865),  had  a  son  George  John  (born  18 16;  died  1896),  whose  son 
Frederick  Ponsonby  (born  1843)  seems  to  have  sold  this  picture.  In 
any  event,  it  was  acquired  from  the  Johnson  family  by  the  late  Charles 
J.  Wertheimer,  who  at  the  same  time  received  the  original  receipt  for 
''twenty  guineas  paid  for  the  portrait,  and  eight  shillings,  the  cost  of 
the  packing-case"  that  originally  contained  it. 

The  entries  in  Romney's  diaries  under  the  name  of  Johnson  are  very 
numerous.  But  the  sittings  for  this  picture  seem  to  have  been  given  in 
1786.  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Johnson  was  also  painted  by  Romney,  and, 
we  believe,  still  hangs  in  the  same  collection.  This  pair  of  portraits  was 
evidently  painted  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  were  in  residence  in 
"Bloomsbury  Square,  four  doors  from  Hart  Street." 

Included  in  the  Exhibition  of  Old  English  Masters,  held  in  the  Royal 
Academy,  Berlin,  1908,  No.  82. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  February,  191 3,  No.  4. 

Ward  and  Roberts:  "G.  Romney,"  1904,  Vol.  II,  p.  85,  and  there  re- 
produced. 

"The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Johnson,  nee  Mary  [^fc]  Ponsonby,  of  Walton 
House,  near  Brompton,  Cumberland,  was  painted  by  Romney  in 
1786,  the  year  of  the  lady's  marriage,  and  shows  the  artist  in  one 
of  his  more  strenuous  moods.  The  picture  is  painted  with  rapid 
and  assured  technique,  and  the  beautiful  subject  is  expressed  with 
wonderful  assurance  and  force." 

The  Connoisseur,  1913,  Vol.  XXXVI,  pp.  13  (plate)  and  47. 

The  whole  technical  achievement  of  this  picture  accords  with  the  prac- 
tice of  Romney  in  the  period  1 782-1 788,  and,  to  be  more  precise,  accords 
with  that  of  the  year  1786.  Thus  the  portrait  of  "Elizabeth,  Lady 
Forbes,"  successively  in  the  collections  of  Sir  Duncan  Hay  and  Lord 

19^1 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


Michelham  and  shown  at  the  Grafton  Galleries,  191 1,  No.  41,  repre- 
sents her  in  a  large  black  velvet  hat  heavily  flounced  and  trimmed  with 
gauze;  the  left  elbow  there  rests  on  the  arm-chair.  It  was  painted  in 
1786.  Between  1783  and  1788  Romney  also  painted  the  "Lady  Ara- 
bella Ward,"  now  in  the  Widener  Collection.  {Art  in  America,  August, 
1 9 19.)  In  each  of  these  three  canvases  are  similarities  of  style,  and  in 
each  we  note  the  placing  of  the  broad-brimmed  hat  very  high  on  the 
canvas. 


JOHN  HOPPNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  ly ^8-18 10 
No.  25    Portrait  of  Mrs.  Gwyn  {''The  J  ess  amy  Bride'^). 

Half  length,  standing  and  turned  three-quarters  to  the  left. 
In  a  low-cut  white  dress,  with  blue  sash;  a  white  mob  cap,  with 
a  blue  bow,  is  tied  with  a  thin  black  cord  below  the  chin.  A 
black-spotted  fichu  falls  loosely  across  her  arms  and  round  the 
waist.  She  has  a  ruddy  complexion  and  brown  eyes,  and  fair 
hair  falls  over  her  ears.    Sky  background. 

Canvas,  29  inches  by  24^  inches.  (0.73  xo.62) 

This  portrait  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Gwyn  family  from  the 
moment  that  it  was  painted  until  sold  at  Christie's,  June  29,  1889  (No. 
30),  by  direction  of  Miss  Gwyn. 

Subsequently  it  passed  into  the  collection  of  Henry  G.  Marquand, 
and  on  June  23,  1903  (No.  36),  was  included  in  the  sale  in  New  York 
of  his  pictures.   The  entry  in  the  Marquand  sale  catalogue  reads  thus : 
"The  charming  spontaneity  of  the  pose,  as,  seated  back  to  us,  she 
turns  her  shapely  head  to  glance  over  her  left  shoulder,  is  in  Hoppner's 
happiest  manner.    So,  too,  is  the  rendering  of  the  face,  rosy  with 
youthful  charm,  mingling  nobility  and  sweetness,  yet,  for  all  its  pretty 
artifice,  very  spirited  and  life-like.   The  corsage,  edged  with  a  ruflJle, 
is  cut  low  enough  to  reveal  completely  the  graceful  sweep  of  the 
neck,  which  is  encircled  with  a  narrow  black  ribbon.    The  gown  is 
of  white  material,  and  a  black  lace  scarf  surrounds  the  waist  and 

[93] 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


lies  over  the  arms.    The  fair  head,  powdered  a  la  mode,  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  mob  cap,  to  the  simple  folds  of  which  a  touch  of 
piquancy  is  added  by  a  bow  of  peacock  blue.    The  portrait  is  a 
choice  example  of  the  artist,  representing  the  facile  elegance  of  his 
best  works,  the  vivacious  tenderness  of  his  style,  and  his  skill  in  im- 
parting a  quality  of  picturesqueness  to  the  canvas." 
Miss  Mary  Horneck,  afterwards  Mrs.  Gwyn,  was  born  perhaps  as 
early  as  1753-    She  was  one  of  the  three  children,  probably  the  second 
child  and  elder  daughter,  of  Captain  Kane  William  Horneck,  of  the 
Royal  Engineers.    He  was  painted  by  Sir  Joshua  in  1748,  and  during 
the  following  year  married  Hannah  Mangles  (i  727-1 803),  known  as 
"the  Plymouth  beauty."    He  was  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army  of 
Sicily— whatever  that  may  signify— and  seems  to  have  died  in  1755, 
leaving  Burke  guardian  to  his  children.    Evidently  he  left  his  widow 
in  comfortable  circumstances.    For  she,  within  a  few  years,  brought 
from  Devonshire  to  London  her  three  children,  Charles,  Mary  and 
Catherine,  who  were  later  to  be  known  to  Goldsmith— and  to  posterity 
—as  "the  Captain  in  lace,"  "the  Jessamy  Bride,"  and  "Little  Comedy," 
respectively. 

This  removal  of  the  family  recalls  the  fact  that  Reynolds  had  made 

the  same  journey  from  Devonshire  to  the  metropolis  as  early  as  1752. 

Mrs.  Horneck,  who  sat  to  Sir  Joshua  in  September,  1758,  died  in  1803. 

For  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine  (Vol.  LXXni(I),  p.  292)  records  in 

the  "Obituary"  under  March  12th:  "At  General  Gwyn's,  in  the  King's 

Mews,  Mrs.  Horneck,  mother  of  General  Horneck  and  Mrs.  Gwyn." 

She  was  buried  at  Weybridge  parish  church,  to  which  we  shall  have  need 

to  refer  later.    We  know  of  the  admiration  of  Mrs.  Horneck  for  the 

novel  "Evelina,"— or  "A  Young  Lady's  Entrance  into  the  World,"  as 

it  came  to  be  called.    Indeed,  Fanny  Burney  relates  how,  on  a  Saturday 

in  January,  1779,  she  was  at  a  gathering  at  Sir  Joshua's  in  Leicester 

Fields,  and  "by  a  change  of  seats"  found  herself  next  to  Mrs.  Horneck, 

who  inquired:  "I  suppose.  Miss  Burney,  I  must  not  speak  of  'Evelina' 

to  you?"    Mrs.  Horneck,  as  we  read,  was  one  of  those  who  "prevailed 

with  Sir  Joshua  to  read  'Evelina,'— and  when  he  once  began  it  he  left 

it  neither  for  sleep  nor  food,  for,  to  own  the  truth,  he  took  to  it  yet  more 

passionately  than  all  the  rest  of  us.''^   Not  only  was  "all  Bath  mad  after 

it,"  but  Dr.  Johnson  approved  of  it. 

1  C.  Hill:  "The  House  in  St.  Martin's  Street:  being  Chronicles  of  the  Burney 
Family,"  1907,  p.  138. 

1:943 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 

Mrs.  Horneck  is  momentarily  of  more  importance  to  us  as  the  mother 
of  Mary  and  Catherine — who  had  together  sat  to  Sir  Joshua  in  1764, 
1765  and  1766,  when  they  were  but  children — than  for  herself.  The 
original,  and  unfinished,  study,  of  1766,  for  the  heads  of  these  charming 
sisters  was  sold  at  Christie's  in  1907  out  of  the  Bunbury  Collection, 
while  the  finished  version  of  the  same  year  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
Lord  Normanton  at  Somerley.  It  was  in  1767,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
Sir  Joshua  painted  the  portrait  of  Mary,  who  is  the  subject  of  our  can- 
vas. In  1766  Oliver  Goldsmith  not  only  wrote  the  "Vicar  of  Wake- 
field," but  sat  to  Reynolds.  But  it  was  not  until  three  years  later, 
according  to  Foster,  that  the  Hornecks  became  acquainted  with  the  au- 
thor of  the  "Deserted  Village,"  which  was,  by  the  way,  dedicated  to  Sir 
Joshua,  then  the  new  President  of  the  Royal  Academy.  It  was  a  propos 
of  a  dinner,  given  about  the  same  time  by  Dr.  Baker,  in  honour  of  the 
Hornecks  that  the  two  girls  sent  Goldsmith  a  rhyming  invitation  to  be 
present.  Goldsmith,  who  appears  to  have  been  invited  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, replied  in  the  now  familiar  jingle: 

"Your  mandate  I  got, 
You  may  all  go  to  pot. 
Had  your  senses  been  right 
You'd  have  sent  before  night  ; 
As  I  hope  to  be  saved, 
I  put  off  being  shaved  ; 
For  I  could  not  make  bold 
W^hile  the  matter  was  cold, 
To  meddle  in  suds. 
Or  to  put  on  my  duds; 
So  tell  Horneck  and  Nesbitt 
And  Baker  and  his  bit. 
And  Kauffman  beside, 
And  the  Jessamy  Bride, 
And  the  rest  of  the  crew, 
The  Reynoldses  too. 
Little  Comedy's  face. 
And  the  Captain  in  lace — 
(By-the-bye,  you  may  tell  him 
I  have  something  to  sell  him)  — 
Tell  each  other  to  rue 

[:9si 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


You  Devonshire  crew 
For  sending  so  late 
To  one  of  my  state. 
But  'tis  Reynolds's  way 
From  Wisdom  to  stray 
And  Angelica's  whim 
To  be  frolick  like  him; 

But,  alas !  your  good  worships,  how  could  they  be  wiser, 
When  both  have  been  spoiled  in  to-day's  Advertiser^ 

We  may  also  recall  the  melodious  verse  of  Austin  Dobson 
"ON  A  PICTURE  BY  HOPPNER 
{Mrs.  Gwyn — Goldsmith's  ^Jessamy  Bride') 

And  you  went  once  with  myrtle  crowned ! 

You  once  were  she,  for  whom 
Poor  Goldsmith's  gentle  genius  found 

That  name  of  jasmine-bloom! 

How  strange  it  seems !   You  whom  he  loved. 

You  who  were  breathing,  vital. 
Not  feigned  in  books,  for  us  have  proved 
Scarce  but  a  fragrant  title. 

You  lived  and  died.    Or  when  or  how, 

Who  asks  ?  This  age  of  ours 
But  marks  your  grass-grown  headstone  now 

By  Goldsmith's  jasmine  flowers." 

Northcote  has  recorded  that  on  the  day,  in  1774,  of  the  death  of  Oliver 

Goldsmith,  Reynolds  did  not  touch  a  pencil — "a  circumstance  the 

most  extraordinary  for  him,  who  passed  no  day  without  a  line/'  And 

before  the  body  of  Goldsmith  was  buried  "in  the  dark  and  dreary  little 

churchyard  of  the  Temple,"  "the  Jessamy  Bride"  and  her  sister,  "Little 

Comedy,"  turned  from  their  family  sorrows  and  scandals  to  pay  a  last 

tribute  of  affection  to  the  poet.   The  sisters  had  his  coffin  reopened  and 

a  lock  cut  from  his  head.   We  learn  that  Mrs.  Gwyn  kept  it  till  she  died, 

seventy  years  later.^ 

2  See  Leslie  and  Tom  Taylor:  "Life  and  Times  of  Reynolds,"  1865,  Vol.  II, 
p.  71;  and  W.  Hazlitt:  "The  Round  Table,"  in  "Northcote's  Eleventh  Con- 
versation," 1903,  p.  339. 

[961 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


About  1776  "the  Jessamy  Bride"  became  engaged  to  Colonel  Gwyn, 
a  distinguished,  but  impecunious,  soldier  whom  she  was  to  marry  some 
three  years  later.  He  was  then  in  the  i6th  Dragoons,  and  subsequently 
in  the  20th,  in  the  3rd,  and,  eventually,  in  the  15th  Dragoons.  Fanny 
Burney  met  Mrs.  Horneck  and  her  elder  daughter,  the  subject  of  our 
portrait,  at  Sir  Joshua's  in  1779.   She  tells  us: 

"Mrs.  Horneck,  as  I  found  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  is  an 
exceedingly  sensible,  well-bred  woman.  Her  daughter  is  very  beauti- 
ful, but  was  low-spirited  and  silent  during  the  whole  visit.  She 
was,  indeed,  very  unhappy,  as  Miss  Palmer  has  informed  me,  upon 
account  of  some  ill  news  she  had  lately  heard  of  the  affairs  of  a 
gentleman  to  whom  she  is  shortly  to  be  married." 

It  seems  that  the  Gwyns  together  encountered  much  unequal  fortune, 
until  the  King  appointed  him  an  equerry.  Fanny  Burney,^  when  refer- 
ring to  his  entering  upon  his  post  at  Court,  records  that  "Colonel  Gwyn 
is  reckoned  a  remarkably  handsome  man,  and  he  is  husband  of  the  beauti- 
ful eldest  daughter  of  Mrs.  Horneck."  She  relates  also  that,  on  her 
leaving  Court  in  1791,  he  bade  her  farewell. 

Writing  from  Weymouth  on  July  16,  1789,  Fa^nny  Burney  says: 

"This  morning  ...  I  strolled  upon  the  sands  with  Mrs.  Gwyn. 
We  overtook  a  lady,  of  a  very  majestic  port  and  demeanour,  who 
solemnly  returned  Mrs.  Gwyn's  salutation  and  then  addressed  her- 
self to  me  with  similar  gravity.  I  saw  a  face  I  knew,  and  of  very 
common  beauty ;  but  did  not  immediately  recall  it  was  Mrs.  Siddons. 
She  is  coming  here,  she  says,  solely  for  her  health;  she  has  spent 
some  days  with  Mrs.  Gwyn  at  General  Harcourt's.  Her  husband 
was  with  her,  and  a  sweet  child." 

Fanny  Burney,  become  Madame  d'Arblay,  felt  the  charm  of  Mrs. 
Gwyn,  for  in  1788  she  describes  her  as  being  "as  beautiful  as  the  first 
day  I  saw  her;  and  all  gentleness  and  softness."  And  she  writes  of  her 
in  1789  as  "soft  and  pleasing,  and  still  as  beautiful  as  an  angel." 

In  the  second  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  General  and  Mrs. 
Gwyn  lived  much  at  Wyd^ial.  Their  names  crop  up  occasionally  in  the 
"Life"  of  Sir  Charles  James  Bunbury.  Thus,  we  read:  "My  father's 
old  aunt,  Mrs.  Gwyn,  was,  of  course,  a  regular  visitor  at  our  house  at 

^  The  manuscripts  of  Fanny  Burney  were  destroyed  by  fire  at  Camilla  Lacey, 
near  Dorking,  in  April,  1919. 

t9T2 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


Mildenhall,"  in  Suffolk.  Sir  Charles,  writing  in  1836  to  his  father  (p. 
83),  says:  "Mrs.  Gwyn,  who  is  certainly  a  good  deal  better  than  she  was 
three  weeks  ago,  desires  her  best  love  to  you,  and  is  particularly  anxious 
that  you  should  send  her  a  drawing  of  Hanmer,  the  best  likeness  that 
you  can  make."  Again,  he  writes  in  1837,  from  Batt's  Hotel,  to  his 
mother:  "I  am  sorry  to  hear  from  Mrs.  Fox  that  my  father  has  been 
ill  again  and  that  you  have  put  off  coming  to  town.  Mrs.  Gwyn  is 
sadly  vexed  at  it,  for  she  had  been  calculating  too  confidently  on  his 
coming,  and  I  do  believe  that  the  sight  of  him  would  do  more  than  any- 
thing to  make  her  well  again.  She  is  looking  very  weak  and  very  much 
pulled  down,  and  is  terribly  nervous  about  herself." 

Thomas  Moore  in  his  ''Memoirs,"  1853,  Vol.  VI,  p.  115,  mentions 
that  he 

"dined  with  Sir  Henry  Bunbury.  A  fine  old  lady  there,  his  aunt, 
Mrs.  Gwynne  [sici,  who  was  one  of  the  two  pretty  girls  relative 
to  whom  the  story  of  Goldsmith's  petty  jealousy  is  told;  all,  she 
assured  me,  a  misrepresentation.  Goldsmith  merely  said  playfully 
to  their  mother,  on  some  one  having  come  to  speak  to  him,  'You  see, 
I  have  my  admirers,  too.'  Such  is  the  truth  of  history  and  biography. 
Talked  a  good  deal  with  her  (into  her  trumpet)  about  Sir  Joshua, 
Burke,  etc."* 

James  Northcote  also  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  Mrs.  Gwyn  in  old  age.  For 
Hazlitt  in  his  "Conversations  of  James  Northcote,  R.A.,"  1830,  p.  94, 
tells  us  that  that  painter  complained  of  being  far  from  well. 

"He  was  here  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  the  beautiful  Mrs.  G  , 

beautiful  even  in  years.  She  said  she  had  brought  him  a  book  to 
look  at.  She  could  not  stop,  for  she  had  a  lady  waiting  for  her  be- 
low, but  she  would  call  in  some  morning  and  have  a  long  chat. 
After  she  was  gone,  I  remarked  how  handsome  she  still  was;  and 
he  said,  'I  don't  know  why  she  is  so  kind  as  to  come,  except  that  I 
am  the  last  link  in  the  chain  that  connects  her  with  all  those  she 
most  esteemed  when  she  was  young — Johnson,  Reynolds,  Goldsmith 
— and  remind  her  of  the  most  delightful  period  of  her  life.'  I  said, 
'Not  only  so,  but  you  remember  what  she  was  at  twenty;  and  you 
thus  bring  back  to  her  the  triumphs  of  her  youth— that  pride  of 
beauty  which  must  be  the  more  fondly  cherished  as  it  has  no  external 

4  This  reminds  us  of  the  fact  that  Sir  Joshua  also,  during  the  last  years  of 
his  life,  used  an  ear-trumpet. 

1:983 


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vouchers,  and  lives  chiefly  in  the  bosom  of  its  once  lovely  possessor/ 
In  her,  however,  the  Graces  had  triumphed  over  time.  She  was  one 
of  Ninon  de  I'Enclos'  people,  of  the  list  of  the  Immortals.  I  could 
almost  fancy  the  shade  of  Goldsmith  in  the  room,  looking  round 
with  complacency.  *Yes,'  said  Northcote,  'that  is  what  Sir  Joshua 
used  to  mention  as  the  severest  test  of  beauty — it  was  not  then  skin- 
deep  only.  She  had  gone  through  all  the  stages,  and  had  lent  a 
grace  to  each.  There  are  beauties  that  are  old  in  a  year.  Take  away 
the  bloom  and  freshness  of  youth,  and  there  is  no  trace  of  what  they 
were.  This  beauty  is  not  founded  in  first  principles.  Good  temper 
is  one  of  the  great  preservers  of  the  features.'  I  observed  it  was  the 
same  in  the  mind  as  in  the  body.  There  were  persons  of  premature 
ability  who  soon  ran  to  seed,  and  others  who  made  no  figure  till  they 
were  advanced  in  life.  I  had  known  several  who  were  very  clever 
at  seventeen  or  eighteen,  but  who  had  turned  out  nothing  after- 
wards." 

General  Gwyn,  who  figures  in  some  of  the  humorous  satires  of  Peter 
Pindar,  was  mentioned  in  the  Gazette  as  late  as  April  25,  1808;  having 
been  Inspector  of  Cavalry,  and  eventually  Governor  of  Sheerness,  he 
died,  January  13,  1821. 

Mrs.  Gwyn,  who  had  been  a  Woman  of  the  Bed-chamber  to  Queen 
Charlotte,  died  in  Portman  Square,  January  14,  1840,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven.  All  that  was  mortal  of  her  was  laid  in  the  same  vault  at 
Weybridge  which  had,  since  1799,  contained  the  body  of  "Little 
Comedy,"  and  in  which  four  years  later  had  been  placed  the  remains  of 
their  mother,  Mrs.  Horneck. 

By  some,  Catherine  Horneck's  birth  has  been  placed  as  far  back  as 
1750,  which  would  make  her  older  than  her  sister  Mary.  In  1771 
Catherine  married  Henry  William  Bunbury,  the  artist  and  carica- 
turist, who  was  at  one  time  an  Honorary  Exhibitor  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy. Bunbury,  who  previous  to  his  marriage  had  travelled  on  the 
Continent,  repeatedly  introduced  the  cheery  face  of  his  wife  into  his 
fancy  subjects.  But  when  his  wife  died  on  July  8,  1799,  "at  General 
Gwyn's  residence  at  Egham  Hill,"^  he  retired  to  Keswick  to  reside  there 
until  his  own  end  came  in  181 1.  According  to  the  tablet  at  Weybridge, 
Catherine  was  forty-five  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death ;  she  would 
thus  be  born  in  1754,  and  so  be  a  year  younger  than  Mrs.  Gwyn.  Mrs. 

^  See  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1799,  p.  629. 


[:99  3 


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Bunbury,  who  stood  godmother  to  Hoppner's  daughter  Helen,  had  two 
sons.  The  elder,  Charles  John,  was  born  in  1772  and  at  the  age  of  eight 
or  nine  was  painted  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds ;  his  features  are  thus  pre- 
served to  us  in  the  famous  portrait  of  "Master  Bunbury. He  had 
been  the  friend  of  the  poet  Southey  at  Westminster,  and  died  in  1798. 
Mrs.  Bunbury's  younger  son,  Henry  Edward,  was  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's 
godchild,  and  became  aide-de-camp  to  his  uncle.  General  Gwyn,  and 
succeeded  as  seventh  Baronet  to  the  Bunbury  family  estates."^ 

The  brother  of  Mrs.  Gwyn  and  Mrs.  Bunbury,  Captain  Charles 
Horneck,  was  "the  Captain  in  lace"  of  Goldsmith's  jingle,  as  we  have 
already  seen.  In  1773  he  married  a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Albemarle, 
but  within  less  than  a  year  she  eloped  with  Captain  Scawen,  one  of  her 
husband's  brother  officers.  This  unpleasant  incident  provided  the  editor 
of  the  Town  and  Country  Magazine  with  subject  matter.^ 

Another  portrait  of  Mrs.  Gwyn  by  Hoppner,  sold,  like  this,  out  of  the 
Gwyn  Collection  (No.  29)  on  June  29,  1889,  is  now  in  the  collection 
of  Lord  Glenconner,  at  Queen  Anne's  Gate,  London.  It  was  exhibited 
at  the  Royal  Academy  (No.  165)  in  1790,  together  with  Hoppner's 
"Mrs.  Bunbury"  ("Little  Comedy")  (No.  190),  and  both  were  in 
1 79 1  engraved  in  mezzotint  by  J.  Young.  That  of  "Mrs.  Gwyn"  was 
shown  at  South  Kensington  (No.  569)  in  1867,  by  Mr.  Robert  Gwyn. 
It  appeared  again  at  Burlington  House  in  1891  (No.  15),  when  it  was 
lent  by  Sir  Charles  Tennant,  father  of  Lord  Glenconner;  and  was  at 
Agnew's  Galleries,  1895  (No.  6).  On  that  occasion  it  was  referred  to 
in  the  Art  Journal,  1896,  p.  63,  as  "one  of  the  most  adequate  illustrations 
possible  of  an  artist  who  was  on  occasion  well  worthy  of  the  place  he  held 
among  the  more  prominent  portraitists  of  the  last  century."   The  same 

6  It  was  sold  out  of  the  collection  of  Sir  Henry  Bunbury,  at  Christie's,  July 
5,  1907.  For  the  Bunbury  pictures  at  Mildenhall,  see  Edmund  Farrer:  "Por- 
traits in  Suffolk  House,"  1908,  p.  263. 

The  sixth  Baronet,  Sir  Thomas  Charles  Bunbury  (the  elder  brother  of 
Henry  William  Bunbury,  the  caricaturist),  was  a  constant  attendant  at  the  race 
meetings  at  Newmarket,  the  family  property  being  situate  at  Barton,  some  ten 
miles  away.  His  name  is  still  preserved  in  the  name  of  the  Bunbury  Mile  at 
Newmarket.  His  wife,  Lady  Sarah  Bunbury,  was  painted  by  Sir  Joshua,  this 
portrait  being  now  in  a  private  collection  in  Chicago;  she  is  represented  as 
"sacrificing  to  the  Graces."  Yet,  according  to  Mrs.  Thrale,  "she  never  did  sacri- 
fice to  the  Graces.  She  used  to  play  cricket  and  eat  beefsteaks  on  the  Steyne  at 
Brighthelmstone." 

8  It  appears  as  one  of  the  "Histories  of  the  Tete  a  Tete,"  under  the  title  of 
"The  Submissive  Duellist  and  Mrs.  H  .  .  .  .  ck,"  1774,  Vol.  VI.  See  also  Notes 
and  Queries,  loth  Series,  Vol.  IV,  p.  343. 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


portrait  drew  from  Henri  Bouchot,  in  an  article  on  "La  Femme  Ang- 
laise  et  ses  Peintres,"  published  in  Revue  de  VArt  ancien  et  moderne, 
Vol.  XI,  April,  1902,  p.  168  (plate  on  p.  239),  the  remark  that  "Mrs. 
Gwyn  est  en  penseuse,  en  melancolique,  sous  un  ombrage  epais ;  elle  reve, 
et  elle  est  charmante.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Gwyn  a  la  un  peu  plus  de  quarante 
ans,  etant  nee  en  1753;  elle  mourra  tres  tard,  en  1840,  apportant  a  la 
reine  Victoria  comme  un  parfum  de  rose  dessechee  dans  un  livre,— le 
livre  d'Olivier  Goldsmith." 

While  we  have  in  mind  J.  Young's  mezzotint  after  Hoppner's  "Mrs. 
Bunbury,"  turned  to  the  right  and  wearing  a  cap  (O'Donoghue:  "En- 
graved British  Portraits  in  the  British  Museum,"  Vol.  I,  p.  285),  we 
may  point  out  the  superficial  resemblances  between  it  and  the  present 
canvas;  in  this  one,  however,  Mrs.  Gwyn  is  turned  to  the  left.^ 

Mrs.  Gwyn  was  also  painted  in  1767,  while  still  Miss  Mary  Horneck, 
by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds ;  in  that  portrait  she  is  represented  "in  a  Persian 
dress  with  turban"  and  "sitting  as  if  in  a  Turkish  mosque."  That  can- 
vas was  lent  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  1891  (No.  134)  by  Sir  Edward 
Bunbury,  but  some  twenty  years  ago  was  sold  to  Mr.  William  Waldorf 
Astor,  the  late  Lord  Astor.  The  story  goes  that  Sir  Joshua  became  so  en- 
amoured of  his  subject,  while  engaged  upon  the  portrait,  that  he  fell  on 
his  knees  and  solicited  Mary  Horneck's  hand  in  marriage.  In  any  event, 
Sir  Joshua  retained  that  picture  in  his  possession  until  his  death,  when 
he  bequeathed  it  to  his  sitter.  ("To  Mrs.  Gwyn,  her  own  portrait  with 
a  turban."— Leslie  and  Tom  Taylor:  "Life  and  Times  of  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,"  Vol.  II,  p.  636.)  It  is  well  known  from  the  engravings  by 
R.  Dunkarton  and  C.  Tomkins.  Sir  Henry  Bunbury  has  left  it  on  rec- 
ord that  the  subject  of  our  picture  was  "near-sighted,  but  her  eyes  were 
strong  and  prominent."  Indeed,  H.  P.  K.  Skipton  in  the  Connoisseur 
(Vol.  XXVIII,  September,  1910,  p.  6),  when  criticizing  the  Bunbury- 
Astor  portrait  by  Reynolds,  mentioned  above,  claims  that  "one  of  the 
faults  in  it  is  that  the  painter,  in  endeavouring  to  give  the  effect  of  near- 
sightedness, has  produced  an  appearance  of  weakness  in  the  eyes." 

Another  portrait  of  her  may  be  that  assigned  to  Sir  Joshua  and  de- 
scribed as  "Mrs.  Gwynne"  \^sic\  in  the  Drummond  Collection  at  Mont- 
real." 

9  See  also  McKay  and  Roberts:  "Hoppner,"  p.  34;  the  Sale  Catalogue  of 
Christie's  July  5,  1907  (No.  107)  ;  and  the  Connoisseur,  Vol.  XXVIII,  1910,  p.  9. 

10  It  was  No.  59  in  the  "Catalogue  of  Paintings  from  the  Collection  of  the 
late  Sir  George  Drummond,  exhibited  at  the  Art  Association,  Montreal, 
January-March,  1918."    It  was  sold  at  Christie's  June  27,  1919,  No.  200. 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


In  1 780  the  sisters  Horneck  were  portrayed  as  "The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor"  by  Daniel  Gardner,  the  picture  being  engraved  by  W.  Dick- 
inson under  the  title  of  "Mrs.  Gwynne  [ski  and  Mrs.  Bunbury." 

JOSEPH  MALLORD  WILLIAM  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-iS^i 

No.  26    The  Trout   Stream    {''The  Dee   at  Corwen 
Bridge''). 

In  the  foreground,  at  the  bend  in  the  stream,  are  fishermen. 
On  the  left  two  men  are  sitting  on  the  ground  near  an  anchor. 
More  to  the  right  are  three  men  fishing,  as  they  wade.  In  the 
middle  distance  on  the  right  are  cattle,  and  beyond  is  a  long 
five-arched  bridge.  In  a  field  in  the  left  middle  distance  are 
men  and  women  making  hay;  behind  them  a  mountain,  capped 
with  mist,  frowns  down  on  them.  A  great  cloud  is  rolling 
away  to  the  left  and  flooding  the  open  country  with  light. 

Canvas,  36  inches  by  48  inches.  (0.91  x  1.21) 

Painted  about  1807. 

Exhibited  at  Manchester  in  1857,  No.  621,  as  "Landscape,"  being  lent 
by  the  Earl  of  Essex. 

In  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  at  Cassiobury  Park,  and  by  him 
exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1878,  No.  134.  Included  in  the  sale 
at  Christie's,  July  22,  1893,  No.  46. 

In  the  collection  of  Abel  Buckley,  who  lent  it  to  the  Royal  Academy's 
Exhibition,  1895,  No.  8. 

It  was  then  most  favourably  criticized  in  the  press,  notably  in  the  Times, 
January  5,  1895,  as  "a  marvellous  work  of  the  great  artist's  early-middle 
period." 

In  the  Acade?ny,  February  2,  1895,  Sir  Claude  Phillips  wrote: 

"A  finer  or  more  representative  series  of  oil  paintings  by  Turner 
has  not  often  been  seen  on  the  walls  of  Burlington  House.  Hardly 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 

any  nobler  example  of  the  earlier,  the  more  reticent  manner  exists 
than  'The  Trout  Stream'  (Mr.  Abel  Buckley).  In  this  wonderful 
study  of  stormy  sky  and  light,  fitfully  illuminating,  through  wreaths 
of  cloud  and  mist,  an  English  landscape,  no  violence  is  done  to  na- 
ture; but,  on  the  contrary,  one  of  the  strangest  and  most  moving 
aspects  is  revealed  with  as  much  truth  as  poetic  insight." 

We  read  in  the  Athenaum,  January  26,  1895 : 

The  fine  Turners  are  superior  in  merit  and  charm  to  those  that 
usually  appear  in  Burlington  House.  In  the  lovely  'Trout  Stream' 
(No.  8)  the  painting  of  the  pebbly  shore,  the  clouds  and  delightful 
atmosphere  is  quite  in  Turner's  best  manner." 

Exhibited  at  the  Guildhall,  1899,  No.  12. 

We  find  that  the  Times,  April  10,  1899,  deals  enthusiastically  with 
"The  Exhibition  at  the  Guildhall,"  and  says  incidentally  of  the  present 
canvas : 

"Nowhere  outside  the  National  Gallery  can  the  marvellous  art 
of  Turner  be  studied  so  well  as  in  this  collection  at  the  Guildhall. 
We  might  even  say  that  in  one  respect  the  loan  exhibition  is  the 
more  complete,  for  the  drawings  shown  here  are  finer  and  more 
various  than  the  sketches  at  Trafalgar  Square.  ...  Of  the  inland 
pictures  of  this  period  'The  Trout  Stream'  (1807),  from  Cassiobury, 
is  one  of  the  most  entirely  satisfactory;  for  once  Turner  has  here 
taken  pains  with  his  figures,  so  that  the  anglers  are  perfect  in  action 
and  strike  no  discordant  note,  as  his  figures  so  often  do." 

"Turner,  although  a  little  scattered  on  the  walls,  was  seen  to  consider- 
able advantage  in  the  great  pictures  from  his  hand.  Lord  Strath- 
cona's  much  exhibited  'Mercury  and  Argus'  was,  however,  placed 
in  a  blaze  of  light  which  revealed  the  delicate  state  of  the  picture, 
and  the  whole  honours  of  the  great  London  landscapist  were  borne, 
and  that  easily,  by  Mr.  Abel  Buckley's  wonderful  'Trout  Stream,' 
which  we  reproduce.  This  canvas,  full  of  grace  and  delicacy,  with 
floating  clouds  over  the  mountains,  rich  golden  colour  of  the  sand 
in  the  foreground,  and  every  gradation  of  light  and  air  between, 
is  one  of  the  very  finest  of  Turner's  earlier  works.   It  simply  blazed 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 

out  in  Glasgow,  even  if  the  hangers  had  placed  it  in  an  uncongenial 
surrounding." 

D.  Croal  Thomson :  "The  International  Exhibition  at  Glasgow," 
in  the  Art  Journal,  1901,  p.  296. 

In  the  Athen^um,  April  15,  1899,  we  read: 

"Except  the  National  Gallery,  no  public  exhibition  open  at  the 
present  moment  can  be  compared  with  the  magnificent  collection  of 
Turners  which  is  now  to  be  seen  at  the  Guildhall.  .  .  .  Halcyon 
weather  and  a  glowing  atmosphere  mark  'The  Trout  Stream'  (No. 
12),  of  1807,  which  belonged  to  the  Cassiobury  Collection,  and  is 
now  Mr.  A.  Buckley's  property." 

Exhibited  at  Glasgow,  1901,  No.  98. 

Sir  Walter  Armstrong,  "Turner,"  1902,  p.  233. 

A.  Graves:  "Century  of  Loan  Exhibitions,"  1914,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1351. 


FRANS  HALS 

^  Dutch  School;  i^8of-i666 

No.  27    Portrait  of  a  Young  Man  holding  his  Hat  to 
HIS  Side  {''The  Young  Man  of  Haarlem''). 

Three-quarter  length,  turned  three  quarters  to  the  right,  and 
looking  at  the  spectator.  He  wears  a  black  doublet  with  but- 
tons and  breeches  which  show  the  wrinkles,  a  flat  white  linen 
collar  fastened  with  a  thin  cord  terminating  in  white  tassels, 
and  a  white  shirt  with  plain  cuffs.  His  long  hair  is  parted  in 
the  middle  and  falls  upon  his  shoulders,  hiding  his  ears.  His 
right  hand  is  doubled  and  pressed  against  his  waist,  with  the 
arm  akimbo.  His  left,  with  the  fingers  separated,  is  laid  flat 
on  his  black,  wide-brimmed  hat  that  is  pressed  to  his  side.  He 
is  seated  in  a  chair  of  which  the  top  of  the  back  to  the  right  is 
studded  with  brass  nails.  He  is  about  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
Neutral  background. 

1:104: 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


Canvas,  4i>4  inches  by  315^  inches.  (1.05  xo.80) 

Painted  about  1645. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Talbot  of  Malahide,  Malahide 
Castle,  near  Dublin,  Ireland,  in  whose  collection  it  had  been  for  at  least 
half  a  century. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  2,  and  in  I9I4j 
No.  2. 

Dr.  W.  von  Bode,  writing  from  Berlin,  August  8,  1908,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  this  and  the  companion  picture  (No.  28),  says: 

"I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  great  pleasure  you  made  me  by  show- 
ing me  the  two  marvellous  portraits  by  Frans  Hals.  There  are  only 
very  few  pictures  by  the  master  of  such  high  quality  and  so  wonder- 
ful preservation. 

"The  husband  who  holds  his  hand  on  his  hat  is  a  masterpiece 
as  to  the  broad  execution  and  the  fine  tone  of  colours.  His  charm- 
ing young  wife,  who  folds  her  hands  in  a  peculiar  way,  is  so  fasci- 
nating by  her  smile  and  kind  expression,  and  so  excellent  as  well  in 
design  as  in  colours,  that  I  know  very  few  female  portraits  equal  to 
this." 

**The  exhibition  of  Messrs.  Scott  and  Fowles,  selected  from  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft,  of  Cincinnati,  was  notable  for 
its  three  admirable  examples  of  Frans  Hals  and  one  of  Rembrandt's 
earliest  Amsterdam  period — an  important  supplement  even  of  the 
Metropolitan's  overwhelming  display.  The  portraits  by  Hals  were, 
in  fact,  though  small  in  number,  more  uniform  in  value  as  repre- 
sentative works.  That  good  fortune  which  sometimes  presides  over 
the  collection  of  paintings  has  here  brought  together  what  might  be 
described  as  an  epitome  of  the  master's  best  in  sentiment  and  in 
technique.  Of  the  three  sitters,  two  men  and  a  woman,  all  good 
types,  the  men  are  a  trifle  the  more  interesting,  as  is  apt  to  be  the 
case  in  portraiture.'  In  'The  Young  Man  of  Haarlem'  the  famous 
bravura  of  brush-work  lends  itself  to  something  like  delicacy  and 
charm;  the  sitter's  dark  eyes  look  at  the  spectator  meditatively; 
his  long  hair,  parted  in  the  middle,  falls  on  the  white  linen  collar ; 
the  right  hand  is  doubled  on  the  hip,  and  with  the  left  he  presses  a 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


broad-leaved  black  hat  against  his  black  doublet.  Nothing  is  known 
of  the  name  of  the  sitter,  nor  is  the  date  recorded." 

William  Walton  in  the  Burlington  Magazine,  19 lO,  Vol.  XVI, 
p.  368  (plate). 

"Surely  New  York  has  been  fortunate,  thus  far  this  winter,  in  having 
remarkable  shows  of  pictures  by  the  princes  of  art,  beginning  with 
the  sumptuous  feast  set  before  the  public  by  the  Hudson-Fulton  Art 
Commission,  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  Before  these 
wonderful  canvases  were  removed,  came  a  collection  of  ten  paint- 
ings, generously  loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, collectors  of  great  note.  .  .  .  The  ten  pictures  that  New 
York  enjoyed  were  loaned  to  the  galleries  of  Scott  and  Fowles,  and 
were  entirely  the  work  of  the  older  masters  of  the  Dutch  and  early 
English  schools;  and  very  well  they  went  together,  these  painters 
of  the  Low  Countries  and  the  Georgian  artists,  for  the  Gains- 
boroughs,  the  Raeburns  and  dear  old  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  held 
their  own  in  the  stately  company  of  Rembrandt,  Hals  and  Hob- 
bema.  .  .  .  Yet  another  Hals  is  of  a  'Young  Man  holding  his  Hat 
to  his  Side.'  ...  A  pale  face  has  this  youth,  yet  full  of  sentiment; 
it  is  an  almost  instantaneous  snap-shot  of  the  original,  yet  it  is 
limned  with  delicious  suavity,  with  certainty  and  with  rare  distinc- 
tion." 

Arthur  Hoeber:  ''Some  Pictures  from  the  Collection  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft,"  in  the  International  Studio,  19 10, 
Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  Ixxi. 

Miss  Elisabeth  L.  Cary,  in  an  article  on  "Some  Masters  of  Portraiture," 
in  Putnam's  Magazine,  February,  19 10,  Vol.  VII,  p.  525,  refers  to  this 
and  the  companion  portraiture  as  "dominating  their  surroundings  with 
the  cheerful  insolence  of  consummate  achievement." 

The  Connoisseur,  June,  191 3,  PP-  99  and  120. 

W.  von  Bode  (tr.  M.  W.  Brockwell)  :  "Frans  Hals,"  I9i4>  Catalogue 
No.  253,  plate  162. 

Until  1908,  this  and  the  accompanying  work  were  entirely  unknown.  It 
is  now  common  knowledge  that  Mr.  A.  H.  Buttery,  the  picture  restorer 
to  the  National  Gallery,  London,  was  in  that  year,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  his  profession,  summoned  to  Malahide  Castle,  some  twelve 

nice  3 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


miles  from  Dublin,  to  inspect  several  paintings.  His  surprise,  then,  may 
be  imagined,  when  he  suddenly  came  upon  the  "Family  Group,"  now  in 
the  National  Gallery  (No.  2285),  as  well  as  the  present  pair  of  por- 
traits. Although  covered  with  a  certain  amount  of  surface  dirt,  their 
authenticity  was  instantly  obvious  to  the  trained  eye.  He  reported  his 
trouvaille  to  Sir  Charles  Holroyd,  then  Director  of  the  National  Gal- 
lery, but  no  public  funds  were  at  the  moment  available  for  the  purchase. 
However,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  after  a  visit  to  the  gallery 
in  Trafalgar  Square,  undertook  in  the  special  circumstances  to  furnish 
the  sum  of  £7500  and,  if  necessary,  to  pay  off  the  balance  by  annual 
sums  of  £5000  (that  being  the  minimum  amount  annually  voted  to  the 
National  Gallery  by  Parliament  for  the  purchase  of  pictures),  to  ac- 
quire the  ''Family  Group"  for  a  total  cost  of  £25,000.^  This  and  the 
companion  portrait  being  thus  released  for  private  sale,  they  were 
brought  to  this  country.  It  should  be  added  that  the  pedigree  of  all 
these  three  canvases  was  entirely  unknown  to  the  owner,  in  whose  col- 
lection they  passed  under  the  loose  attribution  to  Frank  [jfc]  Hall  [sic] 
or  Frank  HoU !  The  former,  although  to-day  confusing,  would  perhaps 
be  the  obvious  anglicization  of  the  name  of  the  great  Dutch  portrait 
painter,  Frans  Hals.  That  the  name  was  in  the  eighteenth  century  fre- 
quently rendered  "Frank  Hall"  can  be  established  by  reference  to  old 
sale  records.  Thus,  in  the  sale  catalogue  of  Monsieur  Desenfans,  which 
sale  took  place  in  London  on  April  8,  1786,  were  included: 

"No.  20.  Frank  Hall.  A  Head,  i  ft.  5  by  i  ft.  3,  on  cloth  pasted  on 
pannel. 

"No.  21.  Ditto.  A  Head,  its  companion,  i  ft.  5  by  i  ft.  3,  on  cloth 
pasted  on  pannel." 

Again,  in  "iEdes  Walpolianae,"  1747,  p.  46,  we  read  of  "Francis 
Halls." 

Surely,  only  a  blunder  without  a  parallel  in  the  whole  range  of  art  his- 
tory could  have  caused  the  pair  of  portraits  to  be  attributed  to  the  fash- 
ionable, late  Victorian  portrait  painter,  Frank  HoU,  R.A.,  who  exhibited 
eighty-seven  pictures  at  the  Royal  Academy  between  1864  and  i888. 
Yet  such  has  been  the  rumour. 

1  That  sum  exceeded  any  paid,  up  to  that  time,  for  a  single  picture  in  the 
National  Gallery,  with  the  exception  of  Raphael's  "Ansidei  Madonna,"  pur- 
chased in  1885. 


Cloy] 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


FRANS  HALS 

Dutch  School;  is8of-i666 

No.  28  Portrait  of  a  Young  Woman  with  one  Arm 
OVER  THE  Back  of  a  Chair  {''The  Young  Woman 
of  Haarlem'') . 

Three-quarter  length,  turned  three  quarters  to  the  left,  and 
looking  at  the  spectator.  In  a  dark  gray  and  black  silk  skirt 
richly  embroidered  with  gold  down  the  front,  the  black  coat 
trimmed  with  bands  of  gold  and  an  ample  black  over-mantle 
with  full  sleeves,  wide  lace  cuffs,  and  large  flat  collar  fastened 
with  a  bow  of  silk.  She  wears  also  a  small  black  silk  cap 
that  ends  in  a  peak  on  her  forehead  and  covers  her  ears,  in 
which  are  gold  pendent  earrings.  A  small  gold  chain  encircles 
this  black  cap.  Her  hair  is  done  in  a  knot  at  the  back  of  her 
head.  Gold  bracelets;  two  small  rings  on  the  index  finger  of 
the  right  hand,  and  one  on  the  small  finger  of  the  left.  The 
right  hand  clasps  the  left  wrist;  the  left  holds  a  fan  which  is 
closed.  She  is  seated  sideways  in  a  blue  upholstered  chair, 
with  her  right  arm  hanging  over  the  back  of  it.  She  is  about 
twenty-five  years  of  age.   Neutral  background. 

Canvas,  41  j4  inches  by  31^  inches.  (i-05  xo.8o) 

The  companion  portrait  to  No.  27,  and  having  the  same  provenance. 
Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  3,  and  in  1914? 
No.  3. 

"A  much  more  lively  personage  than  these  two  gentlemen  [No.  17  and 
No.  27  in  this  collection]  was  presented  in  the  portrait  of  a  'Young 
Woman  of  Haarlem,'  attired  in  her  best,  but  taken  in  an  intimate 
and  informal  moment  which  best  expressed  her,  and  with  whose 
individuality  it  is  clear  that  the  painter  was  in  close  sympathy.  The 
sitter  is  quite  unknown." 

William  Walton  in  the  Burlington  Magazine,  19 10,  Vol.  XVI, 
p.  368  (plate). 

[loS:] 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 


"Yet  a  third  example  [by  Frans  Hals]  is  of  a  woman  with  one  arm 
over  the  back  of  a  chair.  There  is  no  beauty  of  femininity  here,  yet 
plenty  of  distinction;  little  grace  in  the  more  or  less  formality  of 
the  times,  yet  charm  of  breeding,  and  always  the  painting  is  dis- 
tinguished, always  the  painter  seems  to  have  said  the  last  word." 
Arthur  Hoeber  in  the  International  Studio,  1910,  Vol.  XXXIX, 
p.  Ixxiv. 

"In  the  [Hals]  Woman's  Portrait  in  particular  the  veracity  of  the 
painter's  vision  and  the  certainty  of  his  touch  appear,  together  with 
a  delicacy  of  treatment  .  .  .  The  head  is  solidly  constructed,  the 
idiosyncrasies  are  closely  observed  and  deftly  indicated  as  in  all  im- 
portant works  by  Hals,  but  the  handling  of  the  paint  is  the  notable 
thing,  the  flow  of  the  brush-work  in  its  final  veiling  of  the  solid 
under-painting,  as  vivacious  as  the  ripple  of  water  over  a  rocky 
ground,  giving  that  suggestion  of  the  unremitting  movement  of  life 
without  which  no  painting,  however  beautiful,  can  be  other  than 
nature  morte.  ...  It  is  remarkable  both  for  its  quality  and  for  the 
wonderful  preservation  of  its  colours,  which  are  exceptionally  fine 
in  tone." 

Miss  E.  L.  Gary  in  Putnam's  Magazine ,  February,  19 10,  Vol. 
VII,  pp.  525  and  527  (plate). 

The  Connoisseur,  191 3,  Vol.  XXXVI,  pp.  173  (plate)  and  188. 

W.  von  Bode  (tr.  M.  W.  Brockwell)  :  "Frans  Hals,"  1914,  Catalogue 
No.  254,  plate  163. 

Considerations  of  style  prompt  a  reference  to  Hals's  beringed  "Young 
Woman"  of  ample  form,  and  also  turned  to  the  left,  in  the  Berlin  Gal- 
lery, No.  801  (H.  de  Groot,  No.  367;  Bode,  I,  p.  105,  plate  56). 

Again,  the  "Young  Lady"  in  Carl  von  Hollitscher's  Collection  at  Ber- 
lin (H.  de  Groot,  No.  370;  Bode,  I,  p.  129,  plate  73)  wears  such  a  lace 
collar  and  holds  her  fan  in  both  hands.  The  closed  fan,  the  peaked 
black  cap  with  a  gold  band  set  round  with  pearls,  the  broad  lace  collar 
and  bracelets  are  to  be- found  in  the  "Woman"  of  the  Marquand  Be- 
quest to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  (No.  H  16—3;  H.  de  Groot,  No. 
387;  Bode,  II,  p.  175,  plate  107). 

Anyone  who  is  conversant  with  the  features  of  each  of  the  old  ladies 
in  Hals's  "Regentessen,  or  Lady  Governors,  of  the  Hospice  for  the 


THE  ENTRANCE  HALL 

Aged  at  Haarlem,"  of  1664  (H.  de  Groot,  No.  438;  Bode,  II,  p.  286, 
plate  188),  may  see  a  rather  striking  resemblance  (making  all  allowance 
for  a  disparity  in  the  ages)  between  our  Young  Woman"  and  "Adriana 
Bredenhof,"  who  is  seated  in  the  right  foreground.  Judging  by  the 
style,  the  present  canvas  may  have  been  painted  about  1645,  and  por- 
trays a  "Young  Woman"  of  about  twenty-five  years  of  age.  Born, 
therefore,  about  1620,  our  sitter  would  have  been  only  about  forty-four 
years  of  age  at  the  moment  that  the  Haarlem  group  was  completed. 
The  ingenious  might  suggest  that  Adriana  Bredenhof  (Moes:  "Icono- 
graphia  Batava,"  No.  1076)  there  represented — and  we  know  no 
biographical  fact  regarding  her — may  well  have  been  the  mother  of  the 
"Young  Lady"  now  in  Pike  Street. 


THE  RIGHT  CORRIDOR 


ALEXANDRE  GABRIEL  DECAMPS 

French  School;  1803-1860 


HAVING  run  wild  among  peasants  in  childhood,  De- 
camps developed  a  certain  aloofness  and  contracted 
an  aversion  from  the  ordinary  habits  of  polite  so- 
ciety. A  member  of  the  Romantic  School,  he  travelled  in  the 
south  of  France,  Switzerland,  Italy  and  the  Levant.  It  was  in 
the  East  that  he  found  subjects  most  suited  to  his  genius,  and  he 
is  to  be  classed  among  the  leading  French  Oriental  painters. 
He  succeeded  especially  in  the  representation  of  wild  scenery 
and  in  the  mastery  of  light  and  shade.  //  est  toujours  midi 
dans  son  ceuvre.  He  died  from  a  fall  from  his  horse  at  Fon- 
tainebleau. 

No.  29    The  Man  with  the  Sling  {^'Le  Frondeur'') .  . 

Amid  the  ruins  of  some  ancient  temple  are  three  figures. 
Beside  the  drum  of  a  fallen  column,  in  the  right  foreground, 
a  woman  and  her  little  boy  are  crouching  in  silence;  above 
them  are  luxuriant  plants  which  their  goats  are  nibbling.  On 
rising  ground  in  the  centre  is  a  young  man  in  white  trousers 
and  dark  red  sleeveless  coat,  with  a  pouch  slung  from  his  left 
shoulder.  Holding  a  sling,  he  strains  his  eyes  across  the 
ravine,  on  the  far  side  of  which  is  an  eagle  perched  on  a  tower- 
ing mass  of  masonry.   He  is  about  to  take  aim  at  the  bird. 

Canvas,  26  inches  by  inches.  (0.63x0.80) 

Signed  "Decamps,"  high  up  in  the  centre  on  the  plinth  of  the  column, 
behind  the  young  man. 

Formerly  in  the  Van  Praet  Collection,  Brussels. 


THE  RIGHT  CORRIDOR 

In  the  collection  of  E.  Secretan,  and  included  in  his  sale  in  Paris,  July  i , 
1889,  No.  12. 

In  the  collection  of  F.  L.  Ames,  Boston. 

In  the  collection  of  H.  S.  Henry,  Philadelphia.  No.  9  in  the  "Catalogue 
de  Luxe  of  Twenty-one  Masterpieces,"  sold  in  New  York,  February  4, 
1910. 

Included  in  the  Exposition  de  Cent  Chefs-d'oeuvre,  Paris,  1883. 
Mireur:  "Dictionnaire  des  Ventes  d'Art,"  1902,  Vol.  II,  p.  408. 
Benezit:  "Dictionnaire,"  191 3,  Vol.  II,  p.  46. 


FELIX  FRANCOIS  GEORGES  PHILIBERT 

ZIEM 

French  School;  1821-igii 

THE  son  of  a  Croatian  soldier  made  prisoner  at  Monte- 
reau  in  18 14  who  afterwards  settled  in  France,  Ziem 
was  educated  at  Dijon,  but  set  out  for  Rome  at  the 
early  age  of  eighteen.  He  visited  Venice  and  Constantinople, 
and  as  early  as  1849  exhibited  pictures  of  those  cities.  This 
seems  to  have  determined  his  selection  of  marine  and  archi- 
tectural subjects,  more  especially  in  Venice. 

No.  30    The  Piazza  of  San  Marco,  Venice,  in  Time  of 
Flood. 

The  foreground  is  part  of  the  Piazza  of  San  Marco,  seen 
during  a  period  of  flood  and  in  the  early  evening.  From  all 
sides  advance  gondolas  containing  figures  in  gay  attire;  all 
seem  to  be  making  their  way  hurriedly  towards  the  main  portal 
of  the  cathedral,  as  if  this  were  a  rare  and  quite  unexpected 
occurrence.  Some  thirty  yards  away  we  see  the  Campanile ;  the 
fagade  of  the  church  is  directly  before  us;  the  red  flag-staffs 


THE  RIGHT  CORRIDOR 


are  bedraggled  in  the  rain;  the  domes  of  San  Marco  are  ob- 
served in  the  mist.  On  the  left  and  the  right  are  the  three- 
storied  Procuratie  Vecchie  and  Procuratie  Nuove. 

Canvas,  37  inches  by  27  inches.  (0.93  xo.68) 

Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

Fournier:  'Telix  Ziem,"  1897,  P-  84,  refers  to  a  "Place  Saint  Marc  a 
Venise,  pendant  Tinondation,"  as  having  been  included  in  the  Everard 
sale  in  1873.  It  v^ould  thus  be  the  picture  shown  by  Mireur:  ''Ventes 
de  Tableaux,"  1912,  Vol.  VII,  p.  587,  as  having  then  been  sold  for 
7100  francs  in  London. 

Fournier,  p.  46,  states  that  Ziem  exhibited,  at  the  Paris  Salon,  in  1857, 
No.  2713,  a  picture  with  a  similar  title. 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  possesses  a  picture  of  this  subject  by  Ziem. 
It  is  32  inches  by  26  inches. 

Larousse:  "Grand  Dictionnaire,"  Vol.  XV,  p.  1484,  article  on  "Ziem." 


EUGENE  LOUIS  GABRIEL  ISABEY 
French  School;  1804-1886 

SON  and  pupil  of  Jean  Baptiste  Isabey,  the  miniature 
painter  and  lithographer,  he  early  freed  himself  of  the 
classical  spirit  of  his  father.  In  1830  he  accompanied  a 
French  expedition  to  Algiers  as  its  marine  draughtsman. 
Thenceforward  he  is  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  "men  of 
1830,"  and  a  painter  of  romantic  genre,  landscape  and  marine 
subjects  both  in  oil  and  water-colour. 

No.  3 1    The  Sacrament. 

Priests,  wearing  vestments,  and  laymen  are  kneeling  or 
standing,  beneath  silver  candelabra,  on  the  steps  before  the 
altar  in  a  small  church  in  Venice  (  ?)  ;  above  the  altar  hangs  a 


THE  RIGHT  CORRIDOR 


crucifix.  On  the  screen  to  the  right  below  and  in  front  of  the 
arch  are  seven  lighted  candles,  and  against  the  wall  near  by 
hangs  a  processional  banner.  At  the  foot  of  the  steps,  and  to 
the  right,  stands  a  priest;  still  more  to  the  right,  and  in  the 
pews,  are  three  women.  In  the  left  foreground  stand  two 
men;  a  woman  with  two  children  is  seated,  and  two  other 
figures  kneel  by  the  pew  on  the  left. 

Canvas,  32  inches  by  25 inches.  (0.81  x  0.64) 

Signed  ''Isabey,  '72,"  on  the  lower  edge  of  the  pew,  in  the  left  bottom 
corner. 

In  view  of  this  being  a  rather  rare  subject  for  a  painter,  we  may  note 
that  Isabey's  "Baptism  in  the  Church  at  Treport"  is  in  the  Louvre. 


FELIX  FRANCOIS  GEORGES  PHILIBERT 

ZIEM 

French  School;  1821-igil 
No.  32    The  Entrance  to  the  Grand  Canal,  Venice. 

A  group  of  sailors,  and  civilians  in  gaudy  attire,  are  seated 
in  the  left  foreground;  beyond  them  are  two  sailing  vessels 
seen  in  a  feast  of  colour  and  moored  to  the  quay,  the  one 
towards  the  left  and  the  other  towards  the  right.  A  large 
vessel,  with  her  stern  to  us,  is  at  anchor  in  the  canal.  In  the 
middle  distance  to  the  right  stand  three  men  who  seem  to  be 
discussing  the  shipping  near  at  hand.  Beyond  in  the  distance 
we  discern  the  Campanile  and  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  della 
Salute. 

Canvas,  28>^  inches  by  20>^  inches.  (0.72  x  0.52) 

Signed  "Ziem,"  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

The  elements  of  this  composition  almost  correspond  with  the  "Entree 
du  Grand  Canal  a  Venise"  described  by  Fournier:  *'Ziem,"  1897,  P-  86, 


THE  RIGHT  CORRIDOR 


as  having  been  included  in  the  sale  of  the  Defoer  Collection,  Paris,  May 
22,  1886.   But  the  latter  was  larger  (1.08  x  1.62)  than  the  present  one. 


JOAQUIN  SOROLLA  Y  BASTIDA 

Spanish  School;  Contemporary 

BORN  in  1863  at  Valencia,  and  a  pupil  of  the  San  Carlos 
,  Academy  in  that  city,  he  paints  portraiture  and  genre. 
He  achieves  mastery  over  effects  of  light  and  air,  and 
shows  great  adroitness  as  a  draughtsman. 

No.  33    Portrait  of  Former  President  William  How- 
ard T  a  ft. 

Three-quarter  length,  seated  in  an  arm-chair,  the  body 
turned  rather  to  the  right,  the  eyes  to  the  front.  In  gray 
morning-suit  and  red  neck-tie.  The  right  arm  rests  on  the 
chair;  in  the  left  hand  is  a  bundle  of  state  papers.  A  white 
curtain  hangs  on  the  right. 

Canvas,  59  inches  by  40^  inches.  (i.49  x  1.02) 

Inscribed  at  the  top  on  the  right:  ''J.  Sorolla  P. 

1909,  Washington, 
White  House." 

William  Howard  Taft  is  the  second  son  of  Judge  Alphonso  Taft  by 
his  second  wife,  Louisa  Mary  Torrey  (i  827-1 907).  He  was  born  at 
Cincinnati,  September  15,  1857.  He  is  a  half-brother  of  Mr.  Charles 
Phelps  Taft.  (For  genealogical  data  regarding  the  Taft  family,  see 
picture  No.  74.) 

Mrs.  Louisa  Mary  Taft  was  sixth  in  descent  from  Captain  William 
Torrey,  who  was  baptized  at  Combe  St.  Nicholas,  Somerset,  England, 
December  21,  1608,  and  in  1640  emigrated  to  this  country. 

First  Civil  Governor  of  the  Philippines,  appointed  July  4,  190 1, 
he  in  1904  entered  office  as  Secretary  of  War,  succeeding  Hon.  Elihu 
Root.    He  was  elected,  November  3,  1908,  twenty-seventh  President  of 


THE  RIGHT  CORRIDOR 

the  United  States  for  the  term  March  4,  1909-19 13,  over  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  the  Democratic  candidate.  His  record  is  too  well 
known  to  require  comment  here. 

Munsell:  "Index  to  American  Genealogies,"  1900,  p.  303. 

Mabel  T.  R.  Washburn:  "The  Ancestry  of  William  Howard  Taft," 
1908. 

"As  a  portrait  painter  SoroUa  is,  one  may  be  sure,  a  master  of  the  like- 
ness. You  are  impressed  by  the  firmness  with  which  he  models  a 
head,  the  nimbleness  with  which  he  passes  swiftly  over  the  features, 
and,  above  all,  the  vitality  with  which  he  invests  his  sitter.  .  .  .  He 
uses  his  pigments  not  sensitively,  not  with  a  loving  feeling  for  them. 
.  .  .  His  pictures,  especially  when  seen  in  large  numbers,  have  an 
almost  blinding  effect.  They  do  not  beguile,  they  dazzle.  .  .  . 
Their  immediate,  momentary  appeal  is  irresistible." 

Royal  Cortissoz:  "Art  and  Common  Sense,"  1913,  p.  316. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A. 

English  School;  ijz^-ijgz 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  whose  Christian  name  was 
by  a  clerical  error  entered  in  the  baptismal  register  as 
Joseph — an  error  corrected  by  a  supplementary  entry, 
after  he  had  earned  fame — was  a  Devonian  by  birth.  The 
infinite  variety  with  which  he  was  to  portray  the  men  and 
women  of  his  day,  and  thus  to  soar  in  popular  esteem  above  all 
his  rivals,  was  strangely  forecast  in  his  childhood.  Indeed, 
the  earliest  of  his  extant  portraits  was  painted  "from  a  draw- 
ing taken  in  church  on  the  artist's  thumb-nail,"  and  without 
delay  "coloured"  with  the  common  paint  of  a  shipwright  on  a 
canvas  that  had  formed  part  of  a  boat-sail !  How  early  in 
Sir  Joshua's  career  this  took  place  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  officiating  clergyman,  thus  portrayed,  died  in  1736.  Al- 
though he  worked  for  a  time  in  the  studio  of  Hudson  in  Lon- 
don, the  really  formative  influence  of  his  whole  career  was  to 
be  afforded  by  a  chance  voyage  to  Italy.  From  his  residence 
of  three  years  in  that  country  was  to  result  untold  benefit  to 
the  artists  and  art-collectors  of  England.  Thus  by  1760  the 
genius  of  Reynolds  was  to  burst  with  enlightenment  in  London 
on  a  none  too  cultured  age.  The  distinction,  grace  and  suavity 
of  his  female  portraits  were  soon  to  impress  the  heau  monde, 
while,  as  we  now  see,  his  male  portraits  show  a  dramatic  in- 
stinct and  a  grasp  of  character  that  were  unparalleled  in  their 
century.  At  least  a'  century  earlier  a  move  had  been  made  to 
found,  under  royal  patronage,  an  institution  for  the  better 
cultivation  of  the  arts.  But  nothing  had  been  done.  Even 
to-day  many  have  misgivings  as  to  the  usefulness,  for  the  na- 
tion as  opposed  to  the  successful  artist,  of  such  an  institution. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 

However,  the  Royal  Academy  was  founded  in  1768,  and  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  became  its  first  President.  So  various  was  the 
art  of  Reynolds  that  he  not  only  preached  the  emulation  of  the 
Old  Masters,  but  actually  practised  it  himself.  He  had  a  fine 
sense  of  design  and  pictorial  balance  within  his  self-imposed 
limits,  and  having  taken  his  colour  from  the  Venetians,  his 
chiaroscuro  from  Rembrandt,  and  his  composition,  as  he 
averred,  from  the  Bolognese,  he,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  came 
to  excel  Gainsborough.  Gainsborough  was,  however,  the 
greater  master  of  the  brush.  We  must  regret  that  his  scientific 
curiosity,  as  to  the  qualities  of  pigment,  led  him  to  sacrifice 
many  a  painting  on  the  altar  of  experimental  investigation. 
Unfortunately  for  posterity,  many  of  his  canvases  have  de- 
teriorated, owing  to  his  use  of  pigments  and  chemical  admix- 
tures which  may  have  heightened  the  effect  of  his  works  for  a 
brief  period,  but  which  have  in  too  many  instances  brought 
about  their  eventual  disintegration.  It  is  our  good  fortune 
that  his  enormous  vogue  led  him  to  devote  his  energies  almost 
exclusively  to  portraiture ;  and  in  consequence  we  seem  to  be  on 
intimate  terms  with  the  whole  world  of  fashion  and  intellect  of 
his  day.  His  productivity  was  enormous,  and  amounted  to  as 
many  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  pictures  in  a  single  year. 

No.  34    Portrait  of  Mrs.  John  Weyland  and  her 
Eldest  Son. 

Full-length  figures.  Mrs.  Weyland  is  turned  to  the  left; 
apparently  she  is  seated  on  a  stool,  with  a  red  curtain  hanging 
above  her  head  to  the  right.  She  wears  a  full,  white  dress 
edged  with  gold  lace,  and  a  gold-toned  sash  with  a  yellowish 
blue  bow  at  her  breast.  A  kerchief  of  the  same  hue  is  on 
her  head;  the  hair  is  dressed  high,  with  a  curl  falling  upon 
her  left  shoulder.  By  her  right  side  she  holds  her  little  son, 
who  is  kneeling  and  seems  to  be  about  two  years  of  age;  he  is 
nude  but  for  a  loose  white  drapery,  and  has  fair  hair;  his  right 
hand  is  raised  in  the  direction  of  an  open  casement,  through 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


which  is  a  peep  of  undulating  landscape.  In  the  left  fore- 
ground lies  a  bull-dog. 

Canvas,  55  inches  by  44  inches.  ( 1.39  x  i.i  i ) 

Painted  in  1776,  when  the  child  was  less  than  two  years  of  age. 

We  possess  a  vast  amount  of  biographical  data  of  the  Weyland  family 
of  Woodrising,  Norfolk.  The  Weylands,  whose  name  implies  "wet 
lands,"  are  a  branch  of  the  family  which  temp.  Edward  I,  held  large 
possessions  together  with  the  manors  of  Wigenhalls,  Oxburgh,  Gar- 
boldisham  and  Shipden  in  the  County  of  Norfolk.  Sir  Herbert  de 
Weyland  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III  left  three  sons.  The  eldest  of  these. 
Sir  Thomas  de  Weyland,  was  still  living  in  1286,  but  d.  s.  p.  He  gave 
to  Ralph,  Prior  of  Wodebridge( !),  in  Suffolk,  a  piece  of  meadowland,  a 
mill  and  two  shillings  rent,  for  the  souls  of  his  near  relatives;  and 
the  Prior  on  his  part  covenanted  to  find  a  canon  to  pray  for  them  in 
his  conventual  church.  Sir  William  de  Weyland  was  his  second  son, 
and  John  de  Weyland  his  third.  This  Sir  William  de  Weyland  was 
the  father  of  Sir  Richard,  Sir  Nicholas  and  Sir  Thomas.  The  last  of 
these  was  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England,  but  was  forced  to  abjure  the 
realm,  17  Edward  I  (1290),  when  his  estates  were  confiscated  to  the 
Crown  on  the  plea  of  not  duly  administering  justice  in  his  exalted 
function. 

In  3  Edward  I,  Nicholas  de  Weyland,  second  brother  of  the  said 
unjust  Judge,  was  found  to  be  lord  of  the  manor  and  to  hold  his  land 
of  Robert  Burnel,  and  he  of  Odingsels,  the  capital  lord.  This  Nicholas 
de  Weyland  married  Julian,  daughter  and  heir  of  the  said  Robert, 
and  had  the  manor  of  Garboldisham  in  Norfolk,  of  £10  per  annum, 
given  him  by  Robert  Burnel.  The  lord  had  a  lete,  a  toll,  and  other 
privileges  belonging  to  that  lordship,  as  part  of  the  barony  of  Limesi. 
On  the  20th  day  of  January,  in  12  Edward  I,  he  had  a  confirmation 
of  the  weekly  mercate  and  fair  there,  and  on  the  12th  day  of  May, 
in  13  Edward  I,  he  had  a  grant  of  another  fair  for  two  days,  on  the 
vigil  and  the  day  of  the  Assumption;  also  for  eight  days  every  year 
on  the  vigil,  day  and  morrow  after  the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  for  the  five  days  following,  and  a  grant  of  free-warren  "in 
all  his  demeans."  In  the  15th  year  of  the  said  King,  Sir  Nicholas  de 
Weyland,  Knt.,  had  these  following  privileges  of  this  lordship  allowed 
in  Eyre :  view  of  frank-pledge,  assize  of  bread  and  beer,  gallows,  pillory. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


tumbrell,  weyf  and  stray,  the  aforesaid  three  fairs  in  the  year  and  the 
weekly  mercate;  "all  which  bespeak  the  town  of  Garboldisham  to  have 
been  in  that  age  a  place  of  consequence,  capable  of  great  reception." 

The  Weylands  were  subsequently  related  to  the  Tudenhams  and  the 
Bedingfields. 

Passing  from  those  picturesque  days  to  the  XVIII  century,  we  find 
Mark  Weyland  was  "an  eminent  merchant  in  London,"  and,  four 
months  before  his  death  on  April  7,  1742,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the 
twenty-four  Directors  of  the  Bank  of  England.^ 

His  eldest  son,  John — the  grandfather  of  the  little  boy  here  portrayed 
— was  baptized  in  March,  17 13/14;  he  died  October  i,  1767,  being 
buried  at  Woodrising.  As  early  as  1748  he  was  chosen  a  Director  of 
the  Bank  of  England,  and  he  is  described  as  still  being  one  at  his  death.^ 
By  his  wife  Ann,  daughter  of  William  Sheldon,  whom  he  married  in 
1 741,  he  had  a  son  John  and  four  daughters. 

This  son  and  heir,  John,  of  Woodrising,  County  Norfolk,  was  born 
March  24,  1744;  he  married,  December  31,  1772,  Elizabeth  Joanna^  — 
the  lady  in  this  picture— daughter  and  co-heir  of  John  Nourse,*  of 
Woodeaton,  County  Oxon,  by  Elizabeth  his  wife,  daughter  of  Paul 
Jodrell  of  Lewknor,  County  Oxon.    By  this  marriage  the  Woodeaton 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1742,  Vol.  XII,  p.  215. 

2  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XVIII,  p.  185;  Vol.  XIX,  p.  184;  and  Vol. 
XXXVII,  p.  524- 

3  Her  Christian  name  is  mistakenly  rendered  "Johanna"  in  Burke's  "Landed 
Gentry,"  19 14,  p.  2001. 

4  A  John  Nourse  was  the  grandfather,  and  another  man  of  the  same  name 
was  the  father,  of  Richard  Nourse,  who  died  in  1673  in  his  seventy-third  year. 
Richard's  son,  also  John,  who  died  in  1708  at  the  age  of  eighty,  married  twice. 
In  the  church  at  Woodeaton  are  a  number  of  Nourse  family  memorials.  Among 
the  earliest  of  them  is  a  fair  black  marble  tablet  to  the  memory  of  his  first  wife, 
Anna,  "the  late  dear  wife  of  John  Nourse,  Heir  apparent  of  Richard  Nourse, 
of  Woodeaton.  .  .  .  She  was  a  blessed  and  joyfull  mother  of  two  sonns  att  one 
birth,  and  of  sixe  severall  daughters,  being  many  years  married  to  her  now  sor- 
rowful Husband,  who  in  performance  of  her  desier  hath  here  buried  her  body 
between  Richard,  their  eldest  son,  and  their  sixth  daughter,  at  whose  birth  she 
died  in  childbed  the  30th  day  of  August,  in  the  35th  yeare  of  her  age,  1669." 
This  John  Nourse  died,  in  his  eightieth  year,  in  1708,  being  survived  by  his 
second  wife,  Martha,  who  died  three  years  later. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  relationship  of  the  above  to  Francis  Nourse, 
High  Sheriff  of  Oxfordshire  in  1719,  but  he  may  have  been  the  twin  brother  of 
the  above  Richard.  Another  John  Nourse  was  High  Sheriff  in  1741  and  died 
in  1774.  See  Harleian  Society's  Publications:  "Visitations  of  Oxfordshire,"  Vol. 
V,  p.  283;  and  J.  M.  Davenport:  "Lords  Lieutenant  and  High  Sheriffs  of  Ox- 
fordshire," 1868,  pp.  56  and  58. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


estates  came  to  the  Wey lands.  John  Weyland  was  High  Sheriff  for 
Oxfordshire  in  1777.^  He  died,  July  24,  1825,  leaving  by  his  wife,  who 
died  February  8,  1822,  John^  (here  portrayed  together  with  his  mother) 
as  well  as  two  other  sons  and  six  daughters. 

John  Weyland  the  third,  born  December  4,  1774,  and  seen  in  this 
canvas  at  less  than  two  years  of  age,  married,  March  12,  1799,  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  and  heir  of  Whilshed  Keene  of  Richmond,  M.P.  for 
Montgomery,  which  lady  died  April  30,  1845.''^  John  died,  long  before 
his  wife,  at  a  date  unknown,  but  without  issue.  His  second  brother, 
Mark,  died  young.  His  third  brother,  Richard,  was  born  in  1780,  and 
was  a  Major  in  the  i6th  Light  Dragoons,  with  which  regiment  he  served 
in  the  Peninsular  War  and  at  Waterloo.  These  three  brothers  had 
as  sisters,  Joanna,  Elizabeth,  Sophia,  Marianne,  Frances  Appollonia, 
Emma,  Catherine,  and  Cecily  Letitia. 

In  1825  Major  Weyland  had  succeeded  to  the  Woodrising  and 
Woodeaton  estates,  and  incidentally  to  this  portrait  group. 

On  the  Major's  death  in  1864,  the  family  estates  and  this  their  best 
family  portrait  passed  to  his  eldest  son,  John  Weyland  the  fourth  (1821- 
1902).  He  in  turn  had  two  sons.  The  elder,  John  the  fifth,  was  born 
in  1855  and  died  in  1882,  thus  predeceasing  his  father  by  twenty  years. 

In  1902,  therefore,  the  family  possessions  were  inherited  by  the 
younger  brother  of  John  Weyland  the  fifth.  Captain  Mark  Ulick  Wey- 
'  land  (born  i860).  Captain  Weyland  in  1903  sold  this  remarkable 
portrait  group  privately.  Ten  years  later,  having,  sold  Woodeaton 
House,  Oxon,  he  disposed  of  a  certain  number  of  family  portraits,  to- 
gether with  a  quantity  of  porcelain  and  furniture,  by  public  auction  at 
Christie's.  The  sale  took  place  on  December  17,  1913,  when  portraits 
of  members  of  the  Weyland  and  Nourse  families  by  A.  Carpentier, 
Mary  Beale,  Sir  George  Hayter,  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  J.  N.  Sartorius, 
Samuel  Lane,  and  Sir  Nathaniel  Dance,  R.A.,  were  dispersed. 

A  letter,  dated  June  25,  1904,  from  a  firm  of  London  picture  dealers, 

^  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XLVII,  p.  95 ;  Davenport,  p.  58. 

6  His  portrait,  seated  in  an  arm-chair  and  in  a  blue  coat,  was  painted  by 
Samuel  Lane.  It  was  sold  at  Christie's,  December  19,  1913,  No.  19.  It  was 
engraved  by  C.  Turner.  (§ee  O'Donoghue:  "Engraved  Portraits  in  the  British 
Museum,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  451.)  Another  portrait  of  John  Weyland  the  second,  by 
Sir  Nathaniel  Dance,  R.A.,  represents  him  in  a  scarlet  tail-coat  and  holding 
his  hat  and  stick. 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  1799,  Vol.  LXIX,  p.  251,  gives  full  details  regarding 
the  marriage.  The  bride's  father's  name,  Whilshed  Keene,  is  inaccurately 
transcribed  as  "Whitstead  Keene"  by  Burke. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


and  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft,  shows  that  they  bought 
this  portrait^  during  the  previous  year  direct  from  the  family.  It  had 
until  then  never  left  the  house  from  the  time  it  was  painted. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  6. 

F.  Blomefield:  "An  Essay  towards  a  Topographical  History  of  the 
County  of  Norfolk,"  1805,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  171-73. 

E.  Foss:  "Judges  of  England,"  1851,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  171. 

Leslie  and  Tom  Taylor:  "Life  and  Times  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds," 
1865,  Vol.  II,  pp.  172  and  174. 

Graves  and  Cronin:  "Works  of  Reynolds,"  1899,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  1048. 
Marshall:  "Genealogist's  Guide,"  1903,  p.  832. 
Burlington  Magazine,  1 9 10,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 

"A  pleasing  composition,  rendered  in  Sir  Joshua's  usual  manner,  with 
the  directness  and  certainty  that  characterized  him  throughout  his 
career,  painted  with  convincingness  and  distinction,  and  full  of  the 
character  of  the  epoch." 

International  Studio j  19 10,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  Ixxiv. 

The  Connoisseur,  1913,  Vol.  XXXVI,  p.  153  (plate). 

"The  removal  of  our  canvas  from  England  was  not  noticed  in  the 
public  press  at  the  time.  And  its  existence  was  known  to  very  few 
people,  owing  to  its  never  having  been  exhibited  there  or  engraved. 
Although  many  of  Sir  Joshua's  pocket-books  have  been  preserved, 
those  for  1774  and  1775  as  well  as  that  for  1776— the  year  in  which 
this  picture  was  painted — are  missing.  There  was,  in  fact,  only 
one  record  that  could  have  been  traced  by  the  industrious  research 
worker,  and  that  is  so  brief  that  it  would  mean  little  or  nothing  to 
anyone  who  had  not  both  seen  the  canvas,  and  ascertained  its  pedigree, 

8  It  is  a  somewhat  remarkable  fact  that,  while  gathering  together  biographical 
data  regarding  this  picture,  the  present  writer  should  have  come  across,  in 
New  York,  a  portrait  of  the  husband  painted  by  Sir  N.  Dance,  R.A.  He  is 
there  represented  in  a  red  tail-coat,  with  white  lace  cravat,  standing,  and  lean- 
ing his  left  arm  against  a  parapet;  his  hat  is  in  his  left  hand,  and  his  right 
rests  on  a  stick.  It  was  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Captain  Weyland  of 
Woodeaton. 

O'Donoghue:  "Engraved  British  Portraits  in  the  British  Museum,"  1914,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  451,  describes  a  mezzotint  by  C.  Turner  after  a  portrait  by  S.  Lane 
(Whitman,  605). 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


in  the  family  that  had  owned  it  from  the  moment  it  was  painted 
down  to  the  year  1903.  In  the  absence  of  some  of  Joshua's  pocket- 
books,  we  can  still  have  recourse  to  his  price  book,  and  there  we 
find,  under  the  year  1776,  the  entry:  'Mrs.  Weyland.  March  (part 
payment)  £105.'  In  many  cases  such  payments  were  made  to  Sir 
Joshua  by  the  husband  of  the  lady  portrayed.  Nor  does  it  follow 
that  in  the  present  case  the  lady's  being  an  heiress  varied  the  arrange- 
ment by  which  the  picture  was  paid  for.  Rather  is  it  to  be  regarded 
as  conclusive  that,  whoever  attended  to  the  merely  monetary  side  of 
the  question,  the  matter  concerned  a  female  portrait,  and  that  it  is 
the  one  before  us.  It  measures  55  inches  by  44  inches.  This  can- 
vas is  thus  a  trifle  larger  than  the  usual  stock  size  for  such  works. 

"The  little  boy  would  appear  to  some  to  be  more  than  two  years 
of  age,  but  he  was  barely  that  when  this  portrait  was  painted.  In 
the  absence  of  Sir  Joshua's  pocket-book  for  1774  we  have  to  fall 
back  on  his  price  book,  and  it  is  possible  to  piece  together  a  list  of 
his  sitters  for  that  year.  It  includes  'Miss  Nourse.'  The  lady  be- 
fore us,  nee  Nourse,  had  nearly  two  years  earlier  become  Mrs.  Wey- 
land, but  Reynolds's  entries  were  made  only  for  himself.  If,  as  seems 
likely,  the  entry  referred  in  Sir  Joshua's  mind  to  the  lady  in  this 
picture,  her  portrait  would  have  been  begun  before  the  child  was 
born  at  the  end  of  1774.  There  would  be  obvious  reasons  for  the 
rather  unusual  pose,  while  the  completion  of  the  canvas  with  the 
addition  of  the  child  two  years  later  would  lend  added  interest  to  it. 

"Reynolds,  perhaps  unconsciously,  followed  many  of  the  Italians 
who  painted  and  sculpted  the  Infant  Child  as  symbolically  over-large, 
and  so  in  mere  portraiture  he  was  apt  to  over-state  the  age  of  a 
child.  It  is  in  fact  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  whole  of  the 
English  School  of  his  day.^  .  .  .  The  bull-dog  is  treated  somewhat 
generically,  and  subordinated  to  the  general  design.  It  contrasts 
with  the  dogs  often  included  in  other  works  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
and  he  even  'featured'  dogs  in  pictures  of  children.  Of  such 
treatment  the  'Miss  Bowles,'  in  the  Wallace  Collection,  is  the  popu- 
lar exemplar.  .  .  .  Hung  in  the  house  for  which  it  had  been  painted 
and  well  cared  for  four  generations,  it  is  to-day  in  an  unusually  fine 
state  of  preservation.  One  is  attracted  by  the  facture  and  will  ob- 
serve, but  not  perhaps  at  first  glance,  the  pentimenti  in  the  painting 

®  We  see  this  again  in  the  "Tomkinson  Boys"  by  Gainsborough,  No.  i  in  this 
collection. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


of  the  lady's  left  hand,  which  is  in  fact  the  aesthetic  as  well  as  the  * 
actual  centre  of  the  well-knit  composition.  Sir  Joshua  evidently 
intended  at  first  to  represent  the  hand  as  grasping  the  gauzy  drapery. 
But  as  he  worked  on  and  saw  his  scheme  unfold,  he  changed  his 
mind.  To-day  we  can  follow  his  altered  brush-work  in  the  thumb 
and  forefinger.  Indeed  it  is  such  details  that,  taken  together  with 
the  whole  work,  establish  it  as  absolutely  autograph.  One  does  not, 
of  course,  wonder  that  it  is  not  signed;  for  there  was  no  special 
reason  why  it  should  be,  and  Sir  Joshua's  signature  is  found  not 
more  than  half  a  dozen  times. 

"It  belongs  to  the  early  moment  of  our  artist's  period  of  full  ma- 
turity. By  1774  Reynolds  had  been  President  of  the  Royal  Academy 
six  years.  In  that  year  he  exhibited  thirteen  canvases  at  the  Acad- 
emy and  among  them  were  the  'Three  Ladies  adorning  a  Term  of 
Hymen'  (now  in  the  National  Gallery,  London),  one  of  his  many 
portraits  of  his  favourite  sitter,  Maria  Walpole,  Duchess  of  Glouces- 
ter, and  one  of  her  daughter,  the  Princess  Sophia.  Among  the  twelve 
shown  by  him  in  1775  were  such  outstanding  examples  as  the  'Count- 
ess of  Harrington,'  the  'Countess  of  Dysart,'  the  'Lady  Cockburn 
with  her  three  Children'  (now  at  Trafalgar  Square) ,  the  'Duchess  of 
Gordon,'  'Miss  Mary  Horneck'  and  'Mrs.  Sheridan;' 

"In  1776,  the  year  in  which  this  picture  was  painted,  the  President 
sent  in  thirteen  canvases  for  the  exhibition.  In  the  catalogue  for 
that  year  we  note  the  names  of  the  'Duchess  of  Devonshire'  and 
'Master  Crewe'  as  well  as  the  'Samuel'  which  (together  with  nine- 
teen other  works  by  Sir  Joshua)  was  burnt  at  Belvoir  in  18 16.  To 
the  same  exhibition  went  also  the  'Master  Herbert  as  the  Infant 
Bacchus,'  which  'was  engraved  with  leopards,  but  when  cleaned 
lions  appeared!'  Walpole  described  the  'Lord  Temple'  of  the  same 
year  as  'the  finest  portrait  Reynolds  ever  painted.'  Indeed,  these 
well-wrought  portraits  of  outstanding  historical  characters  not  only 
marked  the  moment  of  great  artistic  achievement,  but  have  in  our 
own  time,  when  exhibited  as  works  by  the  Old  Masters,  held  their 
own  for  distinction  and  familiar  setting.  As  early  as  1776  he  had 
not  been  unfortunate  enough  to  use  perishable  materials,  in  his  ef- 
fort to  solve  the  problems  bound  up  in  the  secrets  of  the  Italian  Old 
Masters.  A  decade  later,  however,  he  often,  out  of  scientific  curi- 
osity, employed  chemical  admixtures  that  have  brought  about  the 
ruin  of  such  enterprises.    We  here  see  Reynolds  in  one  of  his  great 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


triumphs  as  a  painter  of  innocent,  ingenuous  childhood  and  of  the 
beauty  and  gracefulness  of  womanhood." 

M.  W.  Brockwell:  "Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  Portrait  of  Mrs. 
Weyland  and  her  Eldest  Son,"  in  Art  in  America,  February, 
19 19,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  63-69. 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A. 

English  School;  I'jz^-ijgz 

No.  35    Portrait  of  Mrs.  Mary  Robinson. 

Bust,  seen  en  face.  Low-cut  black  dress  with  white  fichu 
over  the  shoulders ;  large  black  hat  with  black  bows  and  white 
feathers;  small  black  velvet  neck-band;  powdered  hair.  Red 
curtain  background,  with  a  glimpse  of  blue  sky  on  the  left. 

Canvas,  29^  inches  by  24^  inches.  (0.74x0.67) 

Mary  Darby  was  born,  in  America,  on  November  27,  1758.  Her  father, 
the  captain  of  a  Bristol  whaler  and  at  one  time  a  prosperous  trader  with 
America,  was  of  Irish  descent ;  he  was  born  in  America,  and  died  in  Bris- 
tol in  1787.  It  is  perhaps  worth  noting  that  Mary  claimed  to  be  related, 
on  her  father's  side,  to  Benjamin  Franklin.  She  showed  precocious  abil- 
ity as  a  reciter,  and  when  only  thirteen  received  offers  of  marriage.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  she  was  introduced  to  Garrick,  by  whom  she  was  pre- 
pared to  play  the  part  of  Cordelia  to  his  Lear.  But  on  April  12,  1774, 
she  was  married  to  Thomas  Robinson,  an  articled  clerk  to  a  lawyer, 
and  this  dramatic  engagement  fell  through.  Unfortunately,  her  hus- 
band's birth  was  a  mystery  and  his  morals  strange,  while  her  own  views 
of  money  and  honour  were  no  less  peculiar.  Consequently,  when  she 
was  barely  seventeen,  their  distressing  vicissitudes  had  landed  them  both 
in  prison  for  debt.  There  she  wrote  verses  which  were,  in  fact,  pub- 
lished in  1775.  On  her  Release  she  met  Sheridan  and  renewed  her  ac- 
quaintance with  Garrick,  so  that  on  December  10,  1776,  when  she  had 
just  turned  eighteen,  she  appeared  on  the  stage  at  Drury  Lane  as  Juliet 
with  such  success  that  she  took  the  town  by  storm.  Afterwards  she 
appeared  as  Imogen  and  Ophelia;  and  in  December,  1779,  as  Perdita  in 

1:1293 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


*'The  Winter's  Tale"  she  attracted  the  admiration  of  George,  Prince  of 
Wales  (afterwards  George  IV).  At  the  early  age  of  eighteen  the 
Prince  had  taken  his  first  plunge— and  there  were  to  be  many— into  the 
romance  of  love-making,  and  Mary  Robinson  became  the  object  of  his 
attentions  for  a  brief  period.  She  was  by  no  means  the  sweet  little  in- 
nocent, poetical  thing  that  some  of  her  modern  admirers  have  pictured 
her.  Indeed,  according  to  one  "diurnal  print"  of  the  period,  "she  con- 
trived at  last  so  to  basilisk  a  certain  heir-apparent  that  his  fixed  attention 
to  the  beautiful  object  became  generally  noticed."  She  may  have  af- 
fected coyness,  but  she  was  really  stimulating  the  ardour  of  her  pur- 
suer, who  was,  in  fact,  four  years  her  junior.  It  will  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  scandalous  Town  and  Country  Magazine  had  linked  her  name 
with  Lord  Maiden's,  under  the  title  of  "Memoirs  of  the  Doating  Lover 
and  the  Dramatic  Enchantress,"  a  year  earlier  than  it  thought  fit  to 
treat  of  the  "Memoirs  of  the  illustrious  Heir  and  the  fair  Ophelia."^ 
The  Prince  and  Mary  styled  themselves  Florizel  and  Perdita.  Before 
long  he  induced  her  to  leave  the  stage,  and  gave  her  his  portrait  set  with 
diamonds,  on  one  side  of  which  was  inscribed  the  legend :  "Je  ne  change 
qu'en  mourant,"  and  on  the  other:  "unalterable  to  my  Perdita  through 
life."  Thus  in  May,  1780,  she  abandoned  her  dramatic  career  and  re- 
ceived from  him  a  bond  "of  a  most  solemn  and  binding  character"  for 
£20,000.  During  this  period,  when  she  had  lapsed  into  the  primrose 
paths  of  dalliance,  we  hear  little  of  Mr.  Thomas  Robinson.  Princes 
do  not  sigh  long,  and  in  three  years'  time  Mrs.  Mary  Robinson  was  de- 
serted by  her  very  unchivalrous  and  un-Shakespearean  Prince  Florizel. 
Payment  of  the  bond  was  refused  to  the  "charming  queen  of  curds  and 
cream  of  /The  Winter's  Tale.'  "  Still,  in  1783,  her  friends  obtained  for 
her  from  the  Prince  a  pension  of  £500  a  year — not  a  very  brilliant  com- 
pensation for  the  theatrical  career  she  had  renounced,  together  with 
other  expectations,  for  his  sake.  She  had,  according  to  her  own  account, 
loved  her  Florizel  with  a  real  fondness  which  had  perhaps  been  accom- 
panied by  "the  delicate  wantonness  of  a  Perdita."  At  any  rate,  she  had 
revelled  in  the  luxury  of  her  brief  reign  before  finding  herself  aban- 
donnata,  bruised  and  wounded  in  her  affections.  We  are  told  that 
she  used  to  drive  a  light  blue  carriage  ("an  absurd  chariot")  with  "a 
basket  of  flowers  so  artfully  painted  in  the  centre  of  each  panel  that, 

1  See  the  "Histories  of  the  Tete  a  Tete"  in  Toiun  and  Country  Magazine, 
1780,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  233-236;  and  1781,  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  9-11.  And  see  Notes  and 
Queries,  loth  Series,  Vol.  IV. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


as  she  drove  along,  it  was  mistaken  for  a  coronet."  Her  mock  coronet 
was  not  of  flowers,  but  it  faded  just  as  fast.  Nor  was  her  fame  as  an 
actress  great  enough  to  turn  the  scale  in  her  favour,  although  she  had 
played  certain  parts  with  a  winning  gracefulness. 

It  is  said  that  at  Brighthelmstone  (as  Brighton  was  then  called)  our 
belle  delaisee  saw  rather  more  than  she  wished  of  the  ascendancy  of 
Mrs.  Fitzherbert  over  her  own  former  lover,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who 
continued  to  pass  his  life  in  the  grossest  profligacy  and  was  as  false  as 
he  was  licentious.  Mrs.  Maria  Anne  Fitzherbert  (1756-1837)  mar- 
ried him  in  1785  in  spite  of  the  Royal  Marriage  Act,  and  was  perhaps 
the  only  woman  to  whom  the  Prince  was  ever  sincerely  attached. 

To  return  to  our  Florizel's  cast-off  and  much  commiserated  mistress: 
she  formed  a  close  intimacy  extending  over  many  years  with  Colonel 
Tarleton,  an  officer  in  the  English  Army  in  America.  In  her  later  years 
she  devoted  herself  to  literature;  while,  five  years  after  Florizel's  mar- 
riage in  1795  to  his  Cousin  Caroline  of  Brunswick,  ''the  once  celebrated 
Perdita  passed  away  on  December  26,  1800,  at  her  cottage  at  Engle- 
field  Green."  She  had  been  several  months  in  a  declining  state  of 
health,  which  worldly  troubles  had  greatly  aggravated.  She  was  interred 
''in  a  private  manner;  the  mourning  coach  with  two  gentlemen,  and 
her  own  carriage  only  attending."^  Such  was  the  end  of  this  "actress, 
authoress  and  royal  mistress,  of  Irish  descent,"  who  was  a  woman  of 
singular  beauty  but  vain,  ostentatious  and  fond  of  exhibiting  herself, 
and,  in  spite  of  her  portraits,  wanting  in  refinement.  She  requested  to 
be  buried  at  Old  Windsor,  and  so  within  a  short  distance  of  the  castle, 
"for  a  particular  reason."  She  was  just  over  forty-two  years  of  age.-^ 
By  some  she  has  been  styled  the  English  Sappho.*  In  connection  with  a 
portrait  of  her  by  Reynolds  we  may  recall  that  Mrs.  Robinson's  Muse, 
according  to  a  newspaper  of  February  29,  1792,  paid  the  following, 
elegant  tribute  to  the  fame  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds : 

"Reynolds,  'twas  thine  with  magic  skill  to  trace 

The  perfect  semblance  of  exterior  grace. 

Thy  hand,  by  nature  guided,  mark'd  the  line 

That  stamps  perfection  on  the  form  divine. 

2  Gentleinan's  Magazine,  1800,  p.  1300. 

3  The  tombstone  gives  the  age  incorrectly  as  forty-three. 

*  Such  an  ambiguous  title  she  might  have  disputed  with  Lavinia  Felton,  Peg 
Woffington,  George  Anne  Bellamy,  Frances  Abington,  Sophia  Baddeley,  "Becky" 
Wells,  Dora  Jordan,  Nellie  O'Brien  and  Kitty  Fisher,  et  al.  The  last  two 
were  never  on  the  stage. 

1:1313 


THE  DINING-ROOM 

'Twas  thine  to  tint  the  lip  with  rosy  die, 
To  paint  the  softness  of  the  melting  eye; 
With  auburn  curls,  luxuriantly  displayed. 
The  ivory  shoulders  polish'd  fall  to  shade;  i 
To  deck  the  well-turn'd  arm  with  matchless  grace ; 
To  mark  the  dimpl'd  smile  on  beauty's  face. 
The  task  was  thine,  with  cunning  hand  to  throw 
The  veil  transparent  on  the  breast  of  snow; 
The  Statesman's  thought,  the  infant's  cherub  mien, 
The  Poet's  fire,  the  Matron's  eye  serene ; 
Alike  with  animated  lustre  shine. 
Beneath  thy  polish'd  pencil's  touch  divine. 
As  Britain's  Genius  gloried  in  thy  Art, 
Ador'd  thy  Virtues  and  rever'd  thy  Heart ; 
Nations  unborn  shall  celebrate  thy  name; 
And  stamp  thy  mem'ry  on  the  page  of  Fame!" 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  the  Marchioness  of  Thomond,  1821. 
In  the  collection  of  Lord  Wharncliffe,  circa  1835. 

In  the  collection  of  John  Smith,  author  of  the  "Catalogue  Raisonne," 
1841. 

In  the  collection  of  H.  A.  J.  Munro,  of  Novar,  by  whom  it  was  ex- 
hibited at  the  British  Institution,  1852,  No.  167.  Included  in  the  sale 
of  that  collection  in  i860. 

Waagen,  after  visiting  the  Munro  Collection,  refers  to  this  portrait  as 
being  "of  great  reality,  the  colouring  true  and  transparent."  ("Art 
Treasures,"  1854,  Vol.  II,  p.  140.) 

In  the  collection  of  Mrs.  Octavius  E.  Coope,  at  Rochetts,  near  Brent- 
wood, Essex,  and  by  her  lent  to  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  1888,  No.  81. 
Included  in  the  sale  of  that  collection  at  Christie's,  May  6,  19 10,  No. 
54,  as  "Portrait  of  Mrs.  Mary  Robinson  as  Perdita." 

Leslie  and  T.  Taylor:  "Reynolds,"  1865,  Vol.  II,  pp.  179  and  346. 

Graves  and  Cronin:  "Reynolds,"  1899,  p.  832. 

Magazine  of  Art,  1900,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  515  ;  Vol.  XXV,  pp.  34  and  304. 
Connoisseur,  1 902,  Vol.  IV,  p.  260. 
Art  Journal  May,  1904,  p.  145. 

1:1323 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


J.  Fyvie:  "Comedy  Queens  of  the  Georgian  Era,"  1906,  p.  274. 
"A.  L.  A.  Portrait  Index,"  1906,  p.  1239. 

Wallace  Collection,  London,  ''Catalogue  of  Pictures,"  1913,  p.  209. 

Portraits  of  Mrs.  Mary  Robinson^  were  painted  not  only  by  Reynolds 
but  also  by  Gainsborough,  Romney,  Hoppner,  Lawrence,  J.  Downman, 
Ozias  Humphry,  R.  Cosway,  George  Dance,  J.  K.  Sherwin,  J.  Cranke, 
Charles  Bestland  and  J.  Roberts. 

The  chroniclers  of  the  day  raved  of  her  wonderful  beauty,  while  not- 
ing that  she  lacked  refinement.  Yet  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough  gave 
her  an  air  of  refinement,  without  rendering  her  as  a  raving  beauty.  It 
is  in  the  Wallace  Collection,  London,  that  we  can  best  form  our  own 
views  on  the  subject,  as  there  are  there  the  portraits  of  her  as  Perdita 
by  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough,  while  Romney  represents  her  with  her 
hands  in  a  muff.  In  Gainsborough's  large  canvas  she  is  seated  on  a 
bank,  a  white  Pomeranian  dog  at  her  side ;  she  is  exquisitely  attired  in  a 
diaphanous  white  dress,  most  delicately  heightened  with  passages  of  faint 
blue.  She  holds  a  miniature  in  her  left  hand,  and  it  is  intended  to  throw 
doubts  on  the  constancy  of  the  Prince's  love;  and  she  derives  a  little 
belated  consolation  from  the  beauty  and  elegance  of  her  grief.  One 
cannot  help  remembering  that  the  Prince,  become  George  IV,  died  with 
Mrs.  Fitzherbert's  portrait  round  his  neck.  However,  according  to  Cole- 
ridge, "constancy  lives  in  realms  above." 


JOHN  HOPPNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  ly^S-iSio 

No.  36    Portrait  of  Mrs.  Parkyns,  afterwards  Lady 
Rancliffe. 

Nearly  full-length  figure,  standing  before  a  bank  on  which 
is  a  tree  seen  in  full  autumn  foliage ;  her  body  is  directed  to  the 
left,  but  she  is  looking  out  at  the  spectator.   In  a  low-cut  white 

5  She  is  not  to  be  confused  with  Mary  Robinson,  "the  Beauty  of  Buttermere," 
who  was  enticed  into  marriage  with  John  Hatfield,  the  swindler,  and  died  in 
1837. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


dress,  with  brownish-green  sash;  a  long,  thin  black  lace  shawl 
hangs  across  her  shoulders  and  falls  down  in  front.  She  wears 
a  dark  green  cap  and  a  coral  necklace.  In  her  left  hand  she 
holds  a  glove;  her  right  is  not  seen.  Landscape  background 
with  an  undulating  park,  and  in  the  distance  to  the  left  a  tower 
on  rising  ground.^ 

Canvas,  50  inches  by  40  inches.  (i-27  x  i.oi) 

Painted  in  1794. 

A  lengthy  biographical  note  on  Mrs.  Parkyns  will  be  found  in  the 
^'Obituary  of  Remarkable  Persons"  published  in  the  Gentleman  s  Maga- 
zine, Vol.  LXVII[I],  1797,  p.  85.    It  reads  thus: 

"In  Portland  Place,  in  her  31st  year,  Elizabeth-Anne,  Lady  Ran- 
cliffe,  wife  of  the  Right  Honourable  Thomas  Boothby,  Lord  Ran- 
cliffe  in  Ireland,  so  created  in  1795;  F.R.S.;  a  vice-president  of  the 
Society  for  encouraging  Arts  and  Manufactures;  representative  in 
the  last  and  present  Parliament  for  the  borough  of  Leicester  ;2  eld- 
est son  of  Sir  Thomas  Parkins  [^sic~\  of  Bunny-park,  Co.  Notting- 
ham, baronet,  by  his  first  wife,  Jane,  sole  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Thomas  Parkins  [Wc],  son  of  Sampson;  and  grandson  of  the  late 
Sir  Thomas  P.  bart.,  the  noted  wrestler,  and  author  of  a  treatise 
on  that  manly  and  athletic  science,  published  about  1732,  with  a 
print  of  the  author,  who  died  in  March,  1741.^ 

"In  his  lifetime  he  erected  a  monument,  in  which  he  is  represented 
in  a  wrestling  posture,  with  an  elegant  Latin  epigram  by  Dr. 
Freind,  of  Westminster  School,  a  copy  of  which,  with  a  translation, 
and  a  history  of  this  monument  in  Bunny-church,  may  be  seen  in 

1  It  may  well  be  that  this  tower  was  specially  introduced  here  with  reference 
to  Mrs.  Parkyns's  father,  Sir  William  James,  having  commenced  the  erection 
of  "a  triangular  tower." 

2  The  husband  of  the  lady  here  represented  was  born  July  24,  1755;  he  was 
member  of  Parliament  for  Stockbridge,  1784-1790,  as  well  as  for  Leicester, 
1790-1800;  created  Baron  Rancliffe  in  the  Irish  Peerage,  October  3,  1795;  he 
died  November  17,  1800. 

A  stipple  engraving  by  W.  Leney  after  a  portrait  of  him  by  an  unknown  artist 
was  published  by  C.  Cawthorn  in  1796.  See  O'Donoghue:  "Engraved  British 
Portraits  in  the  British  Museum,"  19 12,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  542. 

In  1794,  when  this  portrait  was  painted,  the  subject  of  it  would  be  known  as 
Mrs.  Parkyns. 

3  A  striking  portrait  of  him  was  painted  by  Van  der  Bank,  and  is  now  in 
'  the  United  States. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


Vol.  VII,  p.  182  [of  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine'].  The  present 
baronet  was  married  to  his  third  wife,  Miss  Boultbee  of  Leicester, 
on  the  first  of  September  last.    (See  Vol.  LXVI,  p.  789.) 

"Lady  Rancliffe  [the  subject  of  the  present  portrait]  was  daugh- 
ter and  sole  heiress  of  Sir  William  James,  of  Park  Farm  Place, 
in  Eltham,  Kent,  Baronet  (so  created,  July  25,  1778),  and  was  by 
his  third  Lady,  Miss  Goddard  (cousin  of  the  late  General  Goddard, 
who  is  living  in  Upper  Wimpole  Street).  Lady  Rancliffe  was 
married  December  16,  1783,  from  her  father's  house  in  Gerrard 
Street,  at  the  parish  church  of  St.  Anne,  Soho ;  on  which  memorable 
day  died  her  father.  Sir  William,  who  had  for  some  time  been  in- 
disposed. (See  Vol.  LIII,  pp.  1064,  1066.)  Lady  Rancliffe  was 
married  at  eighteen ;  has  been  the  mother  of  nine  children  in  thirteen 
years,  six  of  which  \_sic] ,  one  son  and  five  daughters,  are  now  living. 
With  every  elegance  of  person,  youth,  riches,  dignity  and  mental 
accomplishments  in  the  highest  degree  refined  and  cultivated; 
matched  to  a  husband  whose  worth  is  equalled  only  by  his  benevo- 
lence; nothing  seemed  to  have  been  wanting  to  complete  the  happi- 
ness of  the  charming  woman  whose  loss  we  now  deplore.  Yet  she 
was  one  more  instance  of  the  ill-placed  partiality  of  relations,  who, 
in  the  moment  of  parental  delusion,  defeat  the  happiness  of  a  fa- 
vourite child  by  throwing  too  princely  a  fortune  in  the  capricious 
lap  of  a  giddy  female.  Her  remains  were  removed,  on  the  28th, 
with  great  funeral  pomp,  attended  by  a  numerous  train  of  weeping 
friends  of  high  respectability,  in  seven  mourning  coaches  followed  by 
nine  private  carriages,  from  Portland-Place  to  Eltham;  and  there 
deposited  in  a  vault  in  the  church-yard,  over  which  the  following 
inscription  has  for  some  years  been  placed: 

"for  the  reception  of 
her  nearest  and  dearest  relations, 

ANNE, 

RELICT  OF  SIR  WILLIAM  JAMES,  BART. 
LATE  OF  PARK  FARM  PLACE 
IN  THIS  PARISH, 
DIRECTED  THIS  VAULT 
TO  BE  CONSTRUCTED." 

Mrs.  Parkyns's  father  was,  as  Commodore  James,  "commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Marine  Force  in  India,  being  then  at  Bombay,  and  sailed 


THE  DINING-ROOM  * 


on  22  March  in  the  Protector  of  44  guns,  with  the  Swallow  of  16 
guns,  and  the  Viper  and  Triumph,  bomb  vessels."^ 

It  is  recorded  that : 

"Park  Farm  Place,  in  Eltham,  Kent,  the  former  residence  of  Mrs. 
Parkyns's  father.  Sir  William  James,  was  begun  by  him  and  finished 
by  his  widow  soon  after  his  death,  a  triangular  tower,  about  45 
feet  high,  with  turrets,  in  memory  of  a  fort  called  Severndroog, 
in  Angria,  on  the  coast  of  Malabar  near  Bombay,  taken  by  him 
when  Commodore  James.  (See  Vol.  XXVII,  p.  113;  Vol.  XXXI, 
p.  151.)  This  observatory  or  pharos^  commands  most  rich  and  ex- 
tensive views  over  the  western  parts  of  Kent  and  Essex,  with  a  very 
fine  prospect  of  the  river  Thames.  ...  It  is  built  from  a  design  by 
Mr.  Jupp;  and  consists  of  three  floors;  .  .  .  this  building  was 
erected  in  1784." 

It  was  stated  above  that  Mrs.  Parkyns  was  married  "on  December  16, 
1783,  from  her  father's  house  in  Gerrard  Street,  at  the  parish  church  of 
St.  Anne,  Soho."  Confirmation  of  this  is  found  in  the  Gentleman  s  Maga- 
zine, 1783,  part  2,  Vol.  LIII,  where,  among  the  marriages,  we  read: 

"December  16,  1783,  Thomas  B.  Parkyns,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Equer- 
ries to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  to  Miss  James,  daughter  of  Sir 
William  James,  Bart.,  of  Gerrard  Street,  Soho." 

In  the  same  magazine,  p.  1 066,  we  read  the  obituary  notice  of  Mrs. 

Parkyns's  father,  under  date  of  December  16,  1783: 

"Suddenly,  after  attending  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  at  St. 
Anne's,  Soho,  Sir  William  James,  Bart.,  one  of  the  Directors  of 
the  East  India  Company  and  of  Greenwich  Hospital,  an  elder 
brother  and  deput5^-master  of  the  Trinity-house,  M.P.  for  West 
Loo  in  CornwaU,  and  F.R.S." 

Sir  N.  W.  Wraxall  tells  us  that : 

"Sir  William  James  was  seized  with  an  Indisposition,  while  sit- 
ting in  the  House  of  Commons,  during  the  progress  of  the  East 
India  Bill,  which  compelled  him  instantly  to  return  home;  he  recov- 
ered in  a  certain  degree  from  the  attack,  though  he  never  afterwards 
quitted  his  own  house.   His  death  took  place  instantaneously,  during 

4  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XXXI,  p.  151. 

5  We  have  above  (page  134)  suggested  that  this  may  have  given  rise  to  the 
inclusion  of  the  tower  in  the  landscape  background  of  this  portrait. 

[:i36: 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


the  performance  of  the  ceremony  of  his  only  daughter's  marriage 
with  the  late  Lord  Ranclilfe,  then  Mr.  Boothby  Parkyns."^ 

Another  authority,  which  is  usually  most  reliable,  affirms  that  she  was 
married  "on  December  24,  1783,  at  her  father's  house  in  Gerrard  Street, 
St.  Anne's,  Soho,  by  Special  License."^  The  same  authority  declares 
that  Mrs.  Parkyns's  mother  was  Anne,  daughter  of  Edmund  Goddard 
of  Hartham,  County  Wilts;  and  that  the  subject  of  our  portrait  "died 
in  Portland  Place,  Marylebone,  on  the  i8th  and  was  buried  on  the  28th 
January,  1797,  at  Eltham." 

Among  other  children,  Mrs.  Parkyns  was  the  mother  of  George 
Augustus  Henry  Anne,  second  Baron  and  fourth  Baronet,  who  was 
born  June  10,  1785;  succeeded  1800;  married  in  1807;  died  in  1850. 
The  peerage  became  extinct,  but  the  baronetcy  devolved  upon  his  cousin. 

Mrs.  Parkyns  was  in  all  probability  godmother  to  Henry  Parkyns 
Hoppner,  the  son  born  to  our  artist  in  1795,  the  year  following  the  ex- 
hibition of  the  present  work  at  the  Royal  Academy.^ 

Exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1794,  No.  155,  as  the  "Portrait  of  a 
Lady."  Its  identity  is  established  by  reference  to  Pasquin,  who,  in  his 
"Liberal  Critique  on  the  Present  Exhibition,"  1794,  p.  31,  refers  to  it 
as  "this  very  charming  picture  of  Mrs.  Parkyns,"  and  adds  that  "it 
does  much  credit  to  the  artist." 

Exhibited  at  the  British  Institution,  1817,  No.  43,  as  "Portrait  of  Lady 
RanclifEe." 

For  nearly  a  century  this  picture  remained  in  the  collection  at  Bunny 
Park,  near  Nottingham,  but  its  existence  was  known  to  few  people 
until  it  was  included  in  the  sale  held  on  February  24,  1 9 10,  on  the 
premises,  when  it  was  No.  900  in  the  catalogue.  The  Times  the  fol- 
lowing day  described  "The  Bunny  Hall  Sale.  High  Price  for  a  Hopp- 
ner": 

"The  sale  of  the  contents  of  Bunny  Hall,  near  Nottingham,  by 
order  of  Sir  R.  W.  Levinge,  was  continued  yesterday.  .  .  .  The 

6  "Historical  Memoirs  of  His  Own  Time,"  1836,  Vol.  IV,  p.  559. 

7  "The  G.  E.  C.  Peerage,"  1895,  Vol.  VI,  p.  323. 

8  See  McKay  and  W.  Roberts:  "John  Hoppner,"  1909,  p.  127.  This  boy  is 
perhaps  that  in  the  centre  of  the  artist's  "Children  Bathing,"  catalogued  in 
the  collection  of  the  late  Mr.  P.  A.  B.  Widener  as  the  "Portrait  Group  of  the 
Hoppner  Children."  He  entered  the  navy  and  twice  accompanied  Parry  in  his 
effort  to  effect  the  Northwest  Passage.  He  died  December  22,  1833,  aged 
thirty-eight. 

1:1373 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


chief  feature  yesterday  consisted  of  the  family  portraits,  and  at 
the  head  of  these  came  the  famous  portrait  by  John  Hoppner  of  the 
Hon.  Mrs.  Parkyns,  afterwards  first  Lady  RanclifiEe.  .  .  .  She  died 
in  January,  1797,  three  years  after  Hoppner  had  painted  her  por- 
trait. This  portrait  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  1794, 
and  at  the  British  Institution  of  181 7 ;  and  since  the  latter  date  it  has 
only  been  known  through  the  small  but  inadequate  engraving  by 
C.  Wilkin  published  in  1795.  .  .  .  Hoppner's  price  for  painting 
this  portrait,  which  even  so  venomous  a  critic  as  Anthony  Pasquin 
described  as  a  Very  charming  picture,'  would  have  been  about  80 
guineas.  Various  tempting  oifers  are  known  to  have  been  made  to 
the  last  resident  at  Bunny  Hall  to  sell  the  portrait,  but  without 
avail. 

"All  the  principal  London  picture  dealers'were  represented  at  the 
sale  yesterday,  and  an  opening  bid  of  2000  guineas  was  made  by  Mr. 
Hazell  Vicars,  whose  chief  rival  was  Mr.  Charles  Wertheimer  up 
to  7500  guineas,  when  Messrs.  P.  and  D.  Colnaghi  entered  into 
the  contest;  bidding  then  advanced  in  100  guinea  stages  until  it 
reached  8800  guineas,  at  which  the  picture  fell  to  Mr.  Wertheimer, 
with  Messrs.  Colnaghi  &  Co.  as  underbidders.  This  is,  if  not  a 
'record,'  probably  one  of  the  highest  prices  ever  paid  for  a  picture  at 
a  country  sale,  although  it  still  falls  considerably  below  the  price 
paid  for  a  Hoppner  by  Mr.  Wertheimer  when  he  bought  the  Tady 
Louisa  Manners'  a  few  years  ago." 

In  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Parkyns  (48  inches  by  38  inches)  which  is  now 
in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Willys  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  the  lady  is  seen  in  a 
wrap  rather  lighter  than  the  lace  cape  shown  in  our  painting.  More- 
over, in  the  former  it  flows  back  under  the  lady's  arm,  while  in  this  it 
falls  by  her  left  side.  In  the  former  her  dress  is  fuller  at  the  waist ;  in  it 
also  the  trees  have  not  the  same  high  lights,  and  the  peep  of  distant 
landscape  seen  through  them  in  the  middle  distance  is  different.  In  each 
the  lady  shows  her  left,  but  not  her  right  hand ;  also  in  the  background 
of  each  we  find  the  same  rather  peculiar-looking  castle.  In  this  canvas, 
which  is  a  trifle  the  larger,  she  has  not  quite  so  high  a  colour  in  the 
cheeks. 


This  portrait  was  engraved  by  C.  Wilkin,  about  12^  inches  by  10 
inches,  June  20,  1795;  two  examples  (one  printed  in  colours)  are  in  the 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


British  Museum  Print  Room  (O'Donoghue:  "Engraved  British  Por- 
traits in  the  British  Museum,"  1912,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  542). 

Engraved  also  in  line  and  stipple  for  the  English  Illustrated  Magazine, 
October,  1888,  p.  29. 

Reproduced  in  Whitman's  "Print  Collector's  Handbook,"  p.  74. 

Graves:  "Royal  Academy  Exhibitors,"  1906,  Vol.  IV,  p.  154. 

McKay  and  Roberts:  "John  Hoppner,  R.A.,"  1909,  pp.  198-9,  337; 
and  Supp.,  1914,  p.  41. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  February,  1913,  No.  8. 

On  that  occasion  it  drew  forth  the  following  comment  in  a  New  York 
newspaper : 

"A  Hoppner  of  the  very  finest  quality  is  on  exhibition  at  the  Scott 
and  Fowles  Galleries.  It  is  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Parkyns,  a  fair, 
blue-eyed,  healthy-looking  woman  of  Kent,  not  unlike  Rubens's  wife, 
Helen  Fourmont,  but  more  refined.  The  portrait  is  a  three-quarter 
length.  From  beneath  a  green  turban,  decorated  with  a  green 
feather,  falls  a  profusion  of  fair  curls  over  Mrs.  Parkyns's  shoulders. 
She  wears  a  simple  white  dress  with  a  green  band  around  the  waist 
to  match  the  turban ;  a  single  row  of  coral  beads  is  around  the  neck, 
and  a  black  lace  cape  falls  from  the  shoulders.  She  stands  under  a 
tree,  and  the  landscape  is  of  greater  beauty  than  any  we  remember 
ever  having  seen  in  a  Hoppner  picture,  such  a  landscape  as  Gains- 
borough might  have  painted.  The  colouring  of  the  whole  picture 
is  rich,  and  the  mellowness  it  has  gained  since  it  was  painted  has  not 
grown  dark  anywhere.  The  flesh  tones  are  as  brilliant  as  they 
were  when  the  canvas  left  Hoppner's  easel.  There  is  no  sign  of  the 
painting  having  been  touched  by  any  other  brush  than  his,  yet  we 
know  that  it  must  have  been  painted  at  least  one  hundred  and  four- 
teen years  ago,  for  the  sitter,  whose  husband  had  become  the  first 
Baron  Rancliffe — a  title  now  extinct — died  in  1797.  One  of  her 
daughters  became  the  wife  of  Charles  X  of  France's  minister,  the 
Prince  de  Polignac,  who  nearly  lost  his  head  on  the  fall  of  his  mas- 
ter, but  got  off  with  a  sentence  of  perpetual  imprisonment,  which 
six  years  later  was  commuted  to  exile." 


The  Connoisseur,  June,  191 3,  pp.  120  and  124  (plate). 

[139] 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


The  portraits  by  Hoppner  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parkyns,  both  of  which 
hung  in  the  house  at  Bunny  until  the  sale  in  1910,  were  copied  by  Mr. 
R.  S.  Spanton  for  Sir  Horace  Rumbold,  late  Ambassador  at  Vienna,  a 
grandson  of  Lord  and  Lady  Rancliffe.  Mr.  Spanton  states  that  these 
portraits  are  "in  perfect  condition,  on  the  old  strainers,  not  relined,  de- 
liciously  cracked  from  being  altered  and  painted  upon  a  little  too  quickly." 

Another  portrait  of  Mrs.  Parkyns,  wearing  a  pink  dress  in  a  landscape, 
I2j4  inches  by  9^  inches,  was  formerly  in  the  collection  of  Madame 
de  Falbe  at  Luton  Hoo,  Beds.  It  was  sold  May  19,  1900  (No.  28). 
It  was  probably  done  for  the  purpose  of  C.  Wilkin's  engraving. 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  CAMILLE  COROT 

French  School;  I'jg6-i8j^ 

No.  37    At  Ville  d'Avray. 

Three  children  are  standing  at  the  side  of  a  wide  path  which 
is  bordered  by  tall  feathery  trees.  A  brown-roofed  shed  is 
under  the  trees  on  the  right.  In  the  distance,  to  the  left,  are 
tall  gray  houses.   Blue  sky  with  clouds. 

Canvas:  21  inches  by  14^  inches.  (0.53x0.36) 
Signed  in  the  bottom  left  corner. 
Painted  about  1 860-1 870. 

Formerly  in  the  A.  de  St.  Albin  Collection,  Paris. 

Robaut:  "Corot,"  1905,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  232,  No.  1977,  under  the  title  of 
"Paysans  arretes  sur  le  bord  d'un  chemin  boise  en  vue  d'un  village." 


1:140: 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  CAMILLE  COROT 

French  School;  I'jgd-iSj^ 

No.  38    "Souvenir  de  Riva:  Evening  Glow." 

In  the  foreground  is  a  small  stony  brook,  the  turgid  waters 
of  which  pass  through  rushes  into  a  wide  stream  which,  in  the 
middle  distance,  runs  across  the  composition.  A  large  tree  is 
on  the  bank  on  the  right.  A  man  is  pushing  towards  the  left 
a  punt  containing  another  figure.  Gray  hills  seen  in  the  dis- 
tance on  the  far  side  of  the  river. 

Canvas:  24^^  inches  by  36  inches.  (0.62  xo.91) 

Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 
Painted  1 865-1 870. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Alexander  Young,  from  whom  it  was  pur- 
chased privately. 

"Another  important  composition  has  two  renderings  in  the  [Alex- 
ander Young]  collection,  called  respectively  'Souvenir  de  Riva: 
Evening  Glow'  and  'The  Fisherman.'   The  former  is  rich  in  colour 
and  the  thick  mass  of  trees  is  admirable.    It  was  one  of  Corot's 
favourite  maxims  that  trees  should  look  as  if  the  birds  could  fly 
through  them,  and  even  his  heaviest  masses  of  foliage  give  that  im- 
pression.   The  painting  of  the  sky,  with  its  delicate  hues  of  pale 
gold,  is  exquisite,  as  is  the  distant  scene  bathed  in  the  evening  light." 
E.  G.  Halton:  ''The  Collection  of  Alexander  Young,"  in  the 
International  Studio,  1906-07,  Vol.  XXX,  pp.  9-10,  where 
this  picture  is  reproduced. 

Robaut:  "Corot,"  1905,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  196,  No.  1805,  as  "Bateliers  abor- 
dant  sous  un  gros  bosquet  d'arbres:  Le  Matin.  (Souvenir  de  Riva)." 

Riva  is  in  the  Italian  Tyrol.  Plates  357-360  in  Robaut's  work  show 
how  Corot  in  time  suppressed,  or  altered,  numerous  details  derived  from 
a  study  made  on  the  spot.   Thus  a  small  chapel,  which  actually  stood 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


in  the  right  middle  distance,  was  suppressed  and  a  group  of  trees  sub- 
stituted for  it.  In  the  same  way  the  left  foreground  was  varied  so  as 
to  present  a  character  much  less  local  in  appearance.  These  changes  in 
vision  and  handling  were  spread  over  the  period  1 834-1 860. 

In  certain  respects  this  composition  recalls  the  "Evening  Glow"  (which 
has  also  a  small  tree  in  the  middle  distance  instead  of,  as  here,  on  the 
right),  that  was  in  the  Alexander  Young  sale,  July  i,  19 10,  No.  150, 
13  inches  by  21^4  inches. 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  CAMILLE  COROT 

French  School;  Ijg6-i8j^ 

No.  39    The  Brook  (''L^  Ridsseaii'), 

A  young  woman  in  brown  skirt,  blue-gray  bodice  and  pink 
cap  is  kneeling  and  gathering  faggots,  in  the  centre  fore- 
ground, on  the  grass  at  the  side  of  a  brook.  Further  back,  to 
the  left,  are  tall  trees.  The  stream  runs  back  towards  brown- 
roofed  buildings.   Trees  are  also  on  the  bank  on  the  right. 

Canvas,  21^  inches  by  15  inches.  (0.54x0.38) 

Signed  in  the  bottom  right  corner. 

Painted  about  1 865-1 870. 

Exhibited  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  Paris,  1875,  No.  82,  from  the 
collection  of  Dr.  Gambey,  under  the  title  of  "Femme  au  bord  d'un 
Ruisseau." 

Exhibited  at  the  Durand-Ruel  Galleries,  Paris,  1878,  No.  83. 

Exhibited  by  A.  de  St.  Albin,  in  the  "Exposition  de  Cent  Chefs-d'oeuvre 
des  Collections  Parisiennes,"  at  the  Galerie  Georges  Petit,  Paris,  June- 
July,  1883,  No.  6,  under  the  title  of  "Le  Ruisseau." 

Robaut:  "Corot,"  1905,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  66,  No.  1443,  as  "Un  Ruisseau 
sous  les  arbres  avec  une  maison  au  fond."  There  stated  to  have  belonged 
to  "Dr.  Cambay"  \_sic\,  and  said  to  have  been  painted  near  Beauvais. 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


It  is  there  stated  that  "this  study  has  been  copied  several  times.  One  of 
such  copies,  among  others,  was  made  by  Devillers.  It  measures  0.45  x 
0.29  (17^  inches  by  11^  inches)  and  bears  on  the  left  the  signature 
of  Corot." 

Engraved  by  R.  Paul  Huet  for  Albert's  Wolff's  book  on  "Cent  Chefs- 
d'oeuvre  des  Collections  Parisiennes,"  p.  50. 

This  picture,  v^rhich  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  companion  to  No. 
37,  has  been  called  "The  Pool."  But  the  title  now  used  seems  prefer- 
able. 

Judging  by  Corot's  "Environs  de  Beauvais:  Un  chemin  sous  les  arbres 
au  Printemps"  (Robaut,  No.  1374),  which  passed  by  bequest  from  the 
Warnier  Collection  to  the  Rheims  Museum,  this  is  a  view  of  the  same 
stream,  and  the  village  is  that  of  Marissel. 

AERT  VAN  DER  NEER 

Dutch  School;  idos-idy'/ 

HAVING  removed  to  Amsterdam  in  1638,  he  seems  to 
have  soon  afterwards  taken  up  landscape  painting 
professionally,  as  his  earliest  dated  work  belongs  to 
the  year  1639.  His  best  pictures,  however,  were  painted  some 
twenty  years  later.  Unable  to  obtain  a  living  by  his  brush,  he 
eked  out  an  uncertain  livelihood  by  keeping  an  ale  house.  But 
his  efforts  even  in  this  double  role  did  not  prevent  his  being 
declared  a  bankrupt  in  1662.  To  contemplate  a  number  of 
his  pictures  in  succession  would  be  tedious,  but  at  his  best  he 
is  an  artist  of  great  sincerity  who  varied  with  masterly  inven- 
tion the  elements  of  his  moonlight  or  winter  landscapes,  many 
of  which  he  signed  with  a  double  monogram. 

No.  40    A  Landscape  with  Figures. 

A  man,  with  a  stick  in  his  left  hand  and  a  bundle  on  his  back 
and  accompanied  by  his  dog,  is  walking  towards  the  right 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


across  the  foreground  in  the  direction  of  another  man  who, 
wearing  a  red  coat,  is  sitting  under  a  tree  at  the  foot  of  which 
lies  the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree.  In  the  middle  distance  are  cows, 
and  three  men  with  a  dog.  Further  away,  and  more  to  the 
left,  are  other  cows  standing  and  drinking  in  a  pool  of  water. 
Beyond  are  trees.  In  the  distance  a  town,  with  church  towers, 
is  set  at  the  foot  of  a  range  of  hills.  Cloud  cumuli,  with  birds 
in  the  blue  sky. 

Canvas,  29  inches  by  40  inches.  (0.73  x  i.oi) 

Signed  with  the  artist's  well-known  monogram  in  the  right  foreground. 


JOHN  CONSTABLE,  R.A. 
English  School;  Ijj6-i8s7 

THE  early  acquaintance  of  Constable,  the  son  of  a 
miller,  with  the  village  plumber  and  glazier  led  to 
their  sketching  together  in  the  rural  scenery  amid 
which  they  were  born.  Subsequently  Constable  wrote  to  his 
friend  that  his  art,  being  almost  entirely  limited  to  the  study 
and  representation  of  natural  landscape,  "flatters  nobody  by 
imitation,  courts  nobody  by  smoothness,  tickles  nobody  by  its 
petiteness,  is  without  fal-de-lal  and  fiddle-de-dee ^  "How, 
then,"  he  asks,  "can  I  hope  to  be  popular?"  In  1802,  when 
he  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  for  the  first  time,  he  claimed 
that  there  was  "room  enough  for  a  natural  painter."  This  is 
indeed  the  key-note  to  the  whole-hearted  endeavour  of  the 
painter,  who  would,  and  eventually  did,  abolish  the  pseudo- 
artistic  dictums  of  "the  brown  school,"  in  accordance  with 
whose  conventions  the  tints  seen  in  nature  had  to  be  treated 
in  "the  brown  tones  of  an  old  Cremona  fiddle."  A  painter 
against  the  wishes  of  his  practical  and  matter-of-fact  father,  he 
was  long  at  odds  with  the  world,  and  the  Academy  frequently 
rejected  the  pictures  he  sent  in.   Yet  he  continued  to  study  the 

1:1443 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


methods  of  Claude  and  the  Dutch  landscape  painters  as  well  as 
the  standpoint  of  Wilson,  Gainsborough  and  Girtin.  He  was, 
moreover,  the  exact  contemporary  of  Turner.  In  time  he  won 
his  way  to  recognition,  and  in  1819  was  elected  an  Associate  of 
the  Royal  Academy,  having  by  then  succeeded  in  rendering  the 
truthful  and  impressive  charm  of  the  cultivated  scenery  of 
England.  Nevertheless,  he  fully  realized  that  he  had  not  yet 
become  "a  popular  painter,"  and  worldly  success  had  not  so 
far  been  attained.  His  real  merit  and  the  recognition  denied 
him  in  England  were,  however,  before  long  to  become  known 
to  the  French,  who  in  the  Salon  of  1824  were  to  honour  his  art 
and  his  pictures.  Thenceforward  he  worked  with  greater  as- 
surance until,  having  withstood  the  conventions  of  his  earlier 
years,  he  came  to  be  considered  "the  most  genuine  painter  of 
English  cultivated  scenery,  leaving  untouched  its  mountains 
and  lakes." 

No.  41    Dedham  Mill. 

The  stream,  sparkling  in  the  sun,  and  reflecting  the  clouds 
and  the  trees  together  with  the  mill  on  the  left  bank,  runs  down 
towards  the  middle  distance,  where  it  bends  to  the  right.  The 
miller  stands  by  a  pair  of  black  farm  horses  near  the  mill,  be- 
yond which  are  seen  the  sails  of  a  small  boat.  From  the  right 
foreground  a  rutty  cart  track  runs  towards  the  cattle  which 
stand  on  the  near  bank;  two  barges  containing  figures  are  in 
front  of  other  buildings  on  the  opposite  bank,  on  which  is  a 
large  wagon  with  horses.   Cloud  cumuli  in  the  sky,  with  birds. 

Canvas,  23  inches  by  34  inches.  (0.58  x  0.86) 

Signed  "J.  Constable,"  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

Painted  about  1820.  ' 

Formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  family  of  the  artist. 

In  the  possession  of  James  Orrock,  by  whom  it  was  exhibited  at  the 
Grosvenor  Gallery,  1888,  No.  279. 

1:1453 


THE  DINING-ROOM 


Exhibited  at  the  "Exposition  de  Cent  Chefs-d'oeuvre,"  in  the  Georges 
Petit  Gallery,  Paris,  1892,  and  illustrated  (p.  44)  in  the  catalogue. 

"The  beautiful  pictures  of  'Dedham  Mill'  (Collection  Sanderson)  and 
'The  Hay  Wain'  (Collection  Cheramy)  by  Constable  made  us 
realize  the  furore  they  had  caused  and  almost  made  us  believe  that 
we  w^ere  actually  looking  upon  two  such  scenes,  luminously  painted, 
with  the  water  and  pasture  of  this  historic  country  stretching  out  to 
the  horizon. 

"The  genius  of  Constable,  like  that  of  all  great  artists,  is  one  of 
precision  and  sentiment.  There  could  be  nothing  finer,  more  care- 
fully analyzed,  or  more  scrupulously  exact  than  this  calm  and  pic- 
turesque scene  of  'Dedham  Mill,'  where  part  of  the  childhood  of 
the  artist  was  passed.  The  slow  running  water,  between  low  lying 
banks,  and  in  it  reflected  the  almost  motionless  shadows  of  the  flat- 
boats  lying  in  the  water  and  the  houses  along  the  side;  the  wooden 
cottages  of  a  brown  and  reddish  tint;  the  green  poplars,  the  greyish 
willows;  here  and  there  a  few  cows  grazing  under  a  slightly  misty 
sky  ...  it  is  a  truly  English  scene. 

"It  was  in  England  that  Constable,  with  the  fidelity  of  a  Hob- 
bema — in  fact,  almost  of  a  Van  der  Heyden — reproduced  his  fa- 
vourite country  scenes.  It  gives  one  the  impression  that  it  is  a  place 
that  is  particularly  dear  to  the  artist  and  in  which  he  has  endeavoured 
to  reproduce  every  little  detail." 

"Catalogue  of  the  Cent  Chefs-d'oeuvre  Exhibition"  (trans.), 
1892,  p.  13. 

Mentioned,  in  an  article  on  the  Exhibition,  in  the  Gazette  des  Beaux- 
Arts,  July,  1892,  p.  48,  in  the  following  terms: 

"Trois  tableaux  intitules  'Valley  Farm,'  'Deadham  \_stc']  Mill,' 
deux  sites  cher  a  I'artiste,  et  'The  Haywain'  nous  montrent  a  I'Ex- 
position  de  la  rue  de  Seze  toute  la .  robuste  et  agreste  ampleur  du 
talent  de  Constable." 

In  the  collection  of  Arthur  Sanderson,  of  Edinburgh. 

"We  reproduce  an  early  example  of  Constable,  which  is  the  freshest  and 
most  thoroughly  characteristic  of  Mr.  Sanderson's  examples  of  this  1 
master.    None  who  ever  lived  could  have  painted  this  picture  ex- 
cept Constable,  and  he  could  only  have  done  so  in  the  fresh  inspira- 
tion of  his  new  manner;  when,  after  having  served  what  may  be 

[:i46  3 


THE  DINING-ROOM 

called  his  apprenticeship  to  Hobbema  and  Ruisdael,  he  struck  out  a 
bold  line  for  himself,  discarding  absolutely  all  traditional  methods 
of  composition  and  technique,  and  determined  to  paint  Nature 
just  as  he  saw  her  with  colours  that  matched  as  nearly  as  possible 
her  own;  determining  also  to  paint  those  effects  which  pleased  him 
most,  the  noon  sunlight  and  the  shower,  or  the  soft  glitter  of  dew 
on  the  grass  at  morn,  although  he  could  find  no  examples  in  earlier 
Art  to  guide  him.  It  was  in  such  a  frame  of  mind  that  he  produced 
this  sparkling  landscape  with  its  deep  blue  sky  peeping  through  masses 
of  curd-white  cumulus,  this  faithful  portrait  of  his  father's  mill  at 
Dedham,  with  its  poplars  and  other  trees  accurately  drawn  against 
the  sky,  with  its  barges  and  boats  and  river,  and  scarce  less  familiar 
figures,  just  as  he  had  often  seen  them  on  a  bright  morning  in  his 
youth." 

Cosmo  Monkhouse:  "A  Northern  Home,"  in  the  Art  Journal, 
1897,  p.  80,  where  the  picture  is  reproduced. 

In  the  collection  of  Romer  Williams,  of  Newnham  Hall,  Daventry. 

Constable,  in  early  manhood,  painted  many  scenes  from,  rather  than  of, 
his  native  village.  A  ''Dedham  Mill,  Essex,"  by  him,  dated  1820,  is 
in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  London,  No.  34.^  This  canvas 
seems  to  belong  to  the  same  period.  It  is  earlier  than  "Dedham  Lock" 
or  "The  Leaping  Horse,"  of  1825,  in  the  Diploma  Gallery  of  the  Royal 
Academy. 

A  "Dedham  Mill,  Essex,"  28  inches  by  36  inches  (and  so  larger  than 
this  one),  is  mentioned  by  C.  J.  Holmes:  "Constable"  (p.  244),  under 
the  date  of  1819. 

This  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  "Lock  with  Figures  and  Cattle,  a 
Windmill  to  the  Left,"  21  inches  by  31  inches,  by  Constable,  which  also 
was  once  in  the  Arthur  Sanderson  Collection,  but  was  included  in  the 
sale  at  Knight,  Frank  and  Rutley's,  London,  June  16,  191 1  (No.  624). 

1  See  A.  B.  Chamberlain:  "Constable,"  in  Bell's  Series,  1903,  p.  51. 


en?: 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  CAMILLE  COROT 
French  School;  i'/g6-i8j^ 


No.  44    Les  Environs  de  Paris  {''Les  Hauteurs  de  Ville 
d'Avray''). 

An  open  space  with  trees  on  the  right,  on  high  ground; 
looking  down  the  valley  of  the  Seine  from  Ville  d'Avray.  In 
the  foreground  towards  the  left  a  man  is  hoeing,  and  two 
women  are  standing  near.  Cattle  under  the  trees  on  the  right. 
Cloudy  sky. 


Canvas,  19^  inches  by  383^  inches. 
Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 
Painted  1 865-1 870. 


(0.49x0.97) 


In  the  Luquet  Collection.  Included  in  the  sale  at  the  Hotel  Drouot, 
Paris,  September  10,  1875,  when  it  was  acquired  by  M.  Chailloux. 

In  the  Fraissinet  Collection,  and  included  in  the  sale.  May,  1880. 

Subsequently  in  the  collection,  in  London,  of  George  W.  Burnett,  in 
whose  house  it  was  seen  by  Mr.  Taft  and  the  late  Mr.  Fowles.  An 
arrangement  was  then  made  for  the  purchase  by  Mr.  Fowles  of  this 
canvas,  together  with  J.  F.  Millet's  *'La  Maternite"  (now  No.  12  in  this 
collection),  as  well  as  some  ten  other  pictures  that  were  subsequently 
dispersed. 

Robaut:  "Corot,"  1905,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  86,  No.  1499,  under  the  title  of 
"Les  Hauteurs  de  Ville  d'Avray."  It  is  there  stated  that  "il  existe  une 
copie  de  ce  tableau  par  Devillers,  qui  porte  la  signature  de  Corot." 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


CONSTANT  TROYON 

French  School;  i8i 0-186 S 

TROYON  entered  the  porcelain  factory  at  Sevres  in 
1 8 17,  but  in  his  wanderings  in  search  of  landscape 
motives  he  met  Roqueplan,  who  gave  him  valuable 
advice.  He  came  to  the  realization  of  his  potential  self  in 
communion  with  Rousseau  and  Dupre,  souls  kindred  to  his 
own.  Having  begun  his  career  as  a  landscape  painter  pure 
and  simple,  and  visited  Belgium  and  Holland,  he  developed 
an  unsuspected  capacity  for  cattle  painting.  In  this  he  com- 
bined breadth  of  technique,  harmony  of  composition  and  an 
intuitive  seizure  of  nature.  He  was  no  great  age  when  a 
shadow  fell  on  his  easel,  and  death  turned  a  remarkable  career 
into  a  renowned  memory. 

No.  45    Vaches  a  l'Abreuvoir. 

Marshy  ground  with  cattle  standing  in  a  pool  of  water  in 
the  foreground;  reeds  growing  on  the  left.  A  cow  and  a  goat 
are  near  the  bank  on  the  right.  On  the  far  side  of  the  bank 
are  brown-tiled  houses  standing  under  poplar  trees.  More 
cattle  are  in  the  middle  distance  to  the  left.  A  range  of  hills 
in  the  distance.    Cloudy  sky. 

Canvas,  30  inches  by  43  inches.  (o-?^  x  1.09) 

Signed  "C.  Troyon"  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

From  the  collection  of  A.  T.  Stewart,  sold  in  New  York,  March  25, 
1887,  No.  180. 

Dumesnil:  "Troyon,"  1888,  p.  "Ji,  shows  that  this  artist  painted  several 
pictures  of  this  nature  and  subject  which  he  entitled  "L'Abreuvoir." 
They  differ  in  composition  and  size.  Some  of  them  have  been  engraved 
by  Veyrassat,  E.  Leroux,  J.  Laurens,  and  others. 

^54:1 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


CHARLES  FRANCOIS  DAUBIGNY 

French  School;  iSiy-iSyS 

FROM  his  earliest  years  Daubigny  was  a  man  who  suf- 
ficed for  himself,  possessing  in  a  peculiar  sense  his  own 
standpoint  and  individual  equation.  This  he  combined 
with  a  passion  for  industry,  extraordinary  geniality  and  a  love 
of  outdoor  activity.  Together  with  Mignan,  he  set  out  on  foot 
for  the  epic  soil  of  Italy,  sac  au  dos,  giietre  au  pied,  le  baton  a 
la  main.  They  walked  home  again.  Then  Daubigny  obtained 
employment  in  the  studio  of  Granet,  who  worked  such  havoc 
as  restorer  of  the  Old  Masters  in  the  Louvre.  Yet  Daubigny 
became  imbued  with  an  absolute  respect  for  nature  and  a  pro- 
found feeling  for  local  tone.  He  ever  returned  to  the  green 
banks  of  the  Oise,  to  which  he  was  indebted  for  his  finest 
triumphs.  He  built  himself  a  "celebrated  ark  of  a  boat,"  and 
rowed  or  towed  his  peripatetic  studio  as  he  drifted  down 
stream.  Through  long  exposure  on  his  Bottin,  he  contracted 
a  disease  which  hastened  his  end. 

No.  46    Evening  on  the  Oise  {''Bords  de  FOise,  pres  de 
la  Bonneville'^) . 

The  river  Oise  flows  placidly  under  a  sunlit  sky  from  the 
centre  towards  the  right.  On  the  edge  of  the  stream,  by  the 
distant  and  well-wooded  bank  on  the  right,  may  be  discerned 
a  herdsman  with  cattle,  while  more  towards  the  centre  are  two 
barges.  Cattle  browse  among  the  verdure  on  the  bank  in  the 
left  foreground,  and  higher  up  on  the  left  is  a  man  with  an 
ass.   Beyond  are  tall  trees. 

Canvas,  38^  inches  by  77^  inches.  (0.97  x  1.95) 


Signed,  and  dated  1863,  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


This  picture  is  said  to  have  been  formerly  in  the  collection  of  Louisa, 
Lady  Ashburton. 

One  is,  therefore,  inclined  to  identify  it  with  the  **Bords  de  TOise, 
pres  de  la  Bonneville,"  referred  to  but  not  described  by  Henriet:  "Dau- 
bigny,"  1878,  p.  179,  as  having  been  exhibited  at  the  Salon  of  1866, 
No.  497.   It  is  catalogued  by  Henriet  thus : 
"Appartient  a  lady  Hasburton  [jfc]. 

"Grave  a  Teau-forte  par  M.  Martial  dans  le  Salon  de  1866; 
Cadart,  Editeur. 

"Ce  tableau,  envoye  a  Tissue  du  Salon  a  I'exposition  de  Bruxelles, 
a  valu  a  Daubigny  la  croix  de  Chevalier  de  I'Ordre  de  Leopold." 


GABRIEL  ALEXANDRE  DECAMPS 

French  School;  1803-1860 

No.  47    Albanians  {''The  Ballad''). 

A  man  in  Oriental  attire  is  seated,  with  his  right  leg  crossed 
over  his  left  knee,  and  with  his  mandolin  in  the  centre  on  a 
step.  Lower,  and  to  the  right,  is  his  companion,  who,  pipe  in 
hand,  seems  to  be  singing.  Architectural  setting,  with  lower- 
ing sky  at  sunset. 

Canvas,  9j4  inches  by  iij^  inches.  (0.24x0.29) 

Signed  to  the  left  in  full,  and  dated  1849. 

In  the  collection  of  M.  Collot,  and  sold  May  28,  1852. 

Exhibited  at  the  Salon,  Paris,  1850,  under  the  title  of  "Albanais  se 
reposant  sur  des  ruines." 

In  the  collection  of  the  Baroness  Nathaniel  de  Rothschild. 
Lithographed  by  C.  Nanteuil  for  the  "Galerie  de  M.  Collot." 
Moreau;  "Decamps,"  1869,  pp.  123  and  161. 

Charles  Clement:  "Decamps,"  in  the  Artistes  Celebres  Series,  p.  80. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


JULES  DUPRE 
French  School;  i8i2-i88g 

ALTHOUGH  the  son  of  a  porcelain  manufacturer, 
/-\  Dupre  was  eventually  to  be  regarded  by  some  as  the 
^  "father"  of  the  so-called  Barbizon  School.  Yet  in 
1 83 1,  when  he  first  exhibited  at  the  Salon,  Barbizon  was  an 
obscure  hamlet,  its  few  inhabitants  poor  wood-cutters  and  the 
humble  tillers  of  a  meagre  soil.  From  an  early  age  he  was  im- 
pressed by  certain  pictures  by  Jacob  van  Ruisdael  and  Hob- 
bema,  and  he  worked  in  a  generation  of  landscape  painters 
which  immediately  followed  Huet  and  Michallon.  From  1835 
to  1839  he  was  in  England,  where  he  expressed  an  unbounded 
admiration  for  the  art  of  Constable,  who  was  then  nearing  his 
end.  Dupre's  mind  was  placid  and  contemplative:  thus  he 
came  to  invest  his  pictures  of  low-lying  plains,  stagnant  pools, 
pastoral  scenes,  pleasant  waterways  and  the  real  air  with  true 
poetic  feeling.  Essentially  a  man  of  peace,  his  animals  dwell 
in  sun-bathed  pastures.  Having  no  party  spirit,  he  did  not 
bother  to  interest  himself  in  the  Salon  between  1852  and  1867. 
To  him  nature  was  only  a  pretext;  art,  passing  through  a  tem- 
perament, was  his  goal.  Probably  less  is  known  of  him  than  of 
any  other  member  of  the  School  of  1830. 

No.  48    Landscape,  with  Cattle  Drinking. 

Cattle  are  standing  at  the  edge  of  a  winding  stream,  the 
waters  of  which  flow  past  the  right  bank,  on  which  are  tall 
trees.    Blue  sky  with  distant  clouds. 

Canvas,  18  inches  by  14^  inches.  (0.45  xo.37) 

Signed  at  the  left  bottom  corner. 


1:1571 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


N.  V.  DIAZ  DE  LA  PENA 

French  School;  i8o8-i8y6 

NARCISSE  VIRGILE  DIAZ  DE  LA  PENA,  the  son 
of  a  Spanish  refugee,  painted  in  a  porcelain  manufac- 
tory in  his  childhood.  Although  largely  self-taught, 
he  was  influenced  by  Delacroix  in  figure-painting  and  by  Rous- 
seau in  landscape.  He  also  studied  the  works  of  Correggio  and 
Prud'hon.  Thus  equipped,  he  became  a  fashionable  painter 
in  early  manhood,  and,  as  time  went  on,  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Barbizon  School.  His  colour  is  enchanting  and  poetic; 
his  art  is  not  simple  nature,  but  the  poem  of  a  day  dream. 
Even  if  he  was  unable  to  model  a  figure  on  a  large  scale  and 
some  of  his  flowers  at  times  puzzled  experienced  horticultur- 
ists, he  found  in  nature  the  setting  for  his  Correggiesque  god- 
desses and  half-Oriental  phantasies.  His  best  pictures  being 
the  pure  offspring  of  an  impulse,  he  has  been  well  described 
as  "le  peintre  officiel  des  sites  de  la  foret  de  Fontainebleau."  A 
viper  bit  him  when  a  child,  and  he  had  to  have  his  right  leg 
amputated. 

No.  49    Oriental  Children. 

A  group  of  five  children  in  clothes  of  brilliant  hue,  with  a 
little  girl  seated  by  a  stool  in  the  foreground;  two  of  their  num- 
ber stand  behind.  A  boy  in  red  is  withdrawing  into  the  back- 
ground of  trees  on  the  right. 

Canvas,  14  inches  by  10^  inches.  (0.35  xo.27) 


1:158] 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


CHARLES  FRANCOIS  DAUBIGNY 

French  School;  iSiy-iSyS 

No.  50    A  River  Scene  (near  Bonnieres). 

The  river  occupies  the  whole  of  the  foreground,  and  row- 
boats  are  made  fast  to  the  bank  on  the  left.  A  ferry-boat  con- 
taining cattle  is  being  worked  across  to  the  right  bank,  on 
which  is  a  village;  near  a  clump  of  trees  is  a  church.  A  range 
of  hills  in  the  distance.   Cloudy,  sunlit  sky  seen  towards  sunset. 

Canvas,  22  inches  by  36  inches.  (0.55  x  0.91) 

Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner,  and  dated  1861. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Alexander  Young,  London. 

It  might  not  be  difficult  in  Europe  to  identify  the  scene  here  rendered 
with  obvious  veracity.  From  this  and  numerous  other  canvases  we  know 
that  the  banks  of  the  Seine  and  the  Oise  had  a  great  fascination  for 
Daubigny,  who,  drifting  in  his  boat  Le  Bottin,  there  found  excellent 
material  to  hand  and  did  much  of  his  finest  work.  Pictures  of  Verneuil, 
Andresy,  Bonneville  and  Auvers  are  well  known,  but  the  title  of  this 
has  not  been  preserved. 

The  date,  1861,  and  certain  other  facts  incline  us  to  identify  this 
canvas  with  that  mentioned  by  Henriet:  "Daubigny,"  1878,  p.  174, 
under  the  title  of  "Village  pres  Bonnieres."  It  was  so  exhibited  at  the 
Salon,  1 86 1,  No.  793,  and  seems  to  have  appeared  at  the  Exposition 
Universelle,  1867,  No.  193,  as  "Vue  prise  en  Picardie."  It  was  en- 
graved for  the  Monde  Illustre,  July  26,  1862.  According  to  Henriet, 
another  and  very  similar  picture,  belonging  at  one  time  to  M.  G. 
Claudon,  was  lithographed  by  E.  Vernier  under  the  title  of  "Le  Village 
de  Glouton,  pres  Bonnieres." 

A  rather  similar  French  village,  situated,  like  this,  on  a  high  bank  on 
the  right  of  the  composition,  was  painted  by  Daubigny  in  1864  and 
passed  into  the  Humphrey  Roberts  Collection.  In  it  a  girl  drives  geese 
up  the  steep  bank.    It  was  sold  at  Christie's,  May  21,  1908,  No.  134, 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


as  "A  Village  with  a  Church  on  the  Bank  of  a  River,"  13^  inches  by 
21  inches.  It  was  reproduced  in  the  catalogue.  It  is  seen  again  in  the 
Magazine  of  Art,  1896,  p.  120,  as  "A  Village  on  the  Oise,"  and  is  there 
held  to  be  "probably  Auvers-sur-Oise,  near  Pontoise,  where  Rajon,  the 
famous  etcher,  lived  and  died,  and  near  the  church  before  us  was  buried." 

N.  V.  DIAZ  DE  LA  PENA  • 
French  School;  i8o8-i8y6 

No.  51    Early  Autumn:  Forest  of  Fontainebleau. 

A  glade  in  the  forest,  seen  between  two  large,  half-withered 
oak-trees.  A  young  woman  in  a  blue  skirt,  white  bodice  and 
pink  cap  is  stripping  the  leaves  off  the  lower  branches  of  the 
tree  on  the  left.  Another  woman,  wearing  a  red  skirt  and 
carrying  a  bundle  of  faggots  on  her  shoulders,  approaches 
from  the  middle  distance.  Fleecy  clouds  in  the  blue  autumn 
sky. 

Canvas,  32^  inches  by  43  inches.  (0.82  x  1.09) 

Signed  and  dated  1870,  in  the  left  foreground. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Archibald  Coats,  at  Paisley,  Scotland, 
from  whom  it  was  bought,  privately,  long  before  the  sale  at  Christie's  in 
July,  1 91 4. 

JEAN  FRANCOIS  MILLET 

French  School;  iSi^-iSy^ 

No.  52    Mother  and  Child. 

A  young  woman,  in  a  black  skirt,  blue  stockings  and  a  red 
cap,  a  yellow  shawl  round  her  shoulders,  is  walking  away  from 
the  spectator  down  a  rough  path  with  a  high  bank  on  the  left. 
Under  her  right  arm  she  unceremoniously  carries  a  child, 
whose  face  is  not  seen  but  who  clearly  resents  the  affront. 

1:160:1 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


Canvas,  15^  inches  by  12^  inches.  (0.39x0.31) 

The  only  picture  of  this  subject  that  can  be  identified  from  among  those 
detailed  by  L.  SouUie:  "Jean  Frangois  Millet,"  1900,  p.  67,  is  a 
"Femme  portant  son  enfant."  It  was  in  the  V.  Claude  sale,  1853,  No. 
58.  There  is  no  copy  of  the  catalogue  of  that  sale  available  for  us  to 
decide  as  to  the  provenance  of  this  painting. 


ADRIAEN  VAN  OSTADE 
Dutch  School;  1610-1685 

No.  53    An  Old  Toper. 

A  peasant,  in  black  clothes  and  a  soft  black  hat,  is  seated  at 
a  rough  wooden  table.  In  his  left  hand  is  a  glass;  with  his 
right  he  points  to  the  clay  pipe,  metal  jug  and  earthenware 
bowl  on  the  table.    Neutral  background. 

Wood,  8^  inches  by  7  inches.  (0.21  xo.17) 

Signed  in  lower  left  corner,  and  dated  1651. 

In  the  GoU  van  Frankenstein  Collection,  Amsterdam,  July  i,  1833, 
No.  59. 

In  the  Baron  de  Varange's  Collection,  Paris,  May  26,  1852,  No.  31. 

In  the  Pereire  Collection,  Paris,  March  6,  1872,  No.  144. 

In  the  DemidofE  Collection,  San  Donato,  Florence,  March  15,  1880, 
No.  1045. 

In  the  Yerkes  Collection,  Chicago,  No.  35,  and  in  the  edition  de  luxe  of 
the  sale  catalogue  of  that  collection.  No.  68.  Sold,  New  York,  April  8, 
1910,  No.  158. 

Smith:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  Supp.,  1842,  Vol.  IX,  p.  81,  No.  6. 

C.  Blanc:  "Tresor  de  la  Curiosite,"  1857,  Vol.  II,  p.  536. 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1910,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  184,  No. 
144. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


JULES  DUPRE 

French  School;  i8i2-i88g 

No.  54    Landscape  with  Cattle  {''La  Mare''). 

In  the  immediate  foreground  is  the  bank  of  a  reed-grown 
pool,  on  the  far  side  of  which  are  cattle  drinking.  Further 
away  are  other  cattle  at  pasture,  with  trees  on  each  side.  | 
Sunny  sky. 

Canvas,  i6^  inches  by  22%  inches.  (0.41  xo.56) 

Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 


CONSTANT  TROYON 

French  School;  181 0-1865 

No.  55    French  Coast  Scene. 

A  small  two-masted  sailing  boat,  with  its  sails  lowered,  is 
aground  on  the  sea-shore  seen  in  the  right  foreground.  A 
man,  in  a  blue  shirt,  has  just  loaded  his  ox-cart  and  is  helping 
into  it  from  the  boat  a  man  dressed  in  red.  In  deeper  water 
to  the  left  another  man,  in  a  white  shirt,  is  about  to  draw  up 
his  ox-cart  alongside  and  load  it.  In  the  distance  to  the  left 
is  another  sailing  vessel. 

Canvas,  17^^  inches  by  14%  inches.  (0.44x0.36) 
Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

Allied  in  subject  and  style  to  Troyon's  "Plage  de  Trouville." 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


SIR  HENRY  RAEBURN,  R.A. 

Scottish  School;  1^^6-1823 


N  orphan  at  the  age  of  six,  apprenticed  to  a  jeweller  ten 


years  later,  and  commissioned  to  make  portrait  minia- 


^  tures  soon  afterwards,  Raeburn  did  not  venture  to 
paint  in  oil  until  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  A  decade  later 
his  technique  was  advanced  by  residence  in  the  Eternal  City. 
Thenceforward  his  art  developed  surely,  but  shows  no  marked 
periods,  except  that  his  powers  continued  to  mature  to  the 
end,  the  squareness  of  his  touch  being  replaced  gradually 
by  an  easier  breadth  of  treatment.  A  portrait  painter  solely, 
he  reduced  pictorial  problems  to  their  simplest  forms,  while 
evincing  great  dexterity  in  the  laying  of  the  planes.  It  cannot  be 
claimed  that  he  possessed  the  beauty  of  design,  the  splendour 
of  colour,  or  the  compelling  dignity  of  Reynolds.  Nor  have 
his  unconscious  sitters  the  spirituelle  qualities  or  the  pensive 
fascination  of  Gainsborough.  Yet  in  technical  dexterity,  sound 
mediums  and  breadth  of  style  he  certainly  was  not  their  in- 
ferior. Like  them,  however,  he  was  conscious  of  an  inability 
to  compose  large  groups  of  figures  with  the  conviction  that 
characterized  the  art  of  the  great  Italians.  Being  by  birth  and 
throughout  his  career  a  Scotsman,  he  saw  to  it  that  "his  pencil 
never  kept  him  from  his  place  in  church  on  Sunday." 

No.  56    Portrait  of  Miss  Jane  Fraser-Tytler. 

Bust  length.  In  full  face,  the  body  turned  slightly  to  the 
left.  In  low-cut  white  dress,  most  of  which  is  covered  by  a 
dark  red  cloak  that  is  trimmed  with  fur  across  the  shoulders. 
She  has  dark  curly  hair.   Neutral  background. 

Canvas,  29 inches  by  24^^  inches.  (0.74  x  0.62) 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


Jane  Fraser-Tytler  was  apparently  the  third  and  youngest  daughter  of 
Alexander  Fraser-Tytler,  Lord  Woodhouselee.  She  married,  September 
4>  1823,  James  Baillie  Fraser,  thirteenth  in  succession  as  head  of  the 
Frasers  of  Reelick  (i 783-1 856),  an  accomplished  writer  of  fiction  and 
travels  in  the  East.  Lord  Woodhouselee,  Senator  of  the  College  of  Justice 
of  the  Court  of  Session,  Edinburgh,  had  in  1776  married  Anne  Fraser, 
second  in  succession  of  the  Frasers  of  Aldhourie,  who  was  heir  of  entail 
of  her  father.  Lord  Woodhouselee,  having  then  become  possessed  of 
the  lands  of  Balnain  and  Aldhourie,  assumed  the  name  of  Fraser  as  a 
prefix  to  his  own.  His  portrait,  painted  in  1804  by  Raeburn,  was  ex- 
hibited at  Edinburgh  apparently  in  1877,  and  appeared  at  Christie's  in 
1897  (No.  32).  It  was  subsequently  sold  at  auction  in  New  York, 
March  9,  1900  (No.  48).  Mrs.  James  Baillie  Fraser  {nee  Jane  Fraser- 
Tytler),  who,  on  January  23,  1856,  had  succeeded  her  husband  as  four- 
teenth of  Reelick,  died  October  23,  1861. 

This  picture  originally  formed  part  of  the  collection  of  Fraser  family 
portraits  by  Raeburn.  It  was  No.  33  in  the  sale  at  Christie's,  July  lO, 
1897. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  11. 
Armstrong:  "Raeburn,"  1901,  p.  102. 
Burlington  Magazine,  19 10,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 
Putnarns  Magazine,  February,  1910,  Vol.  VII,  p.  525. 
J.  Greig:  "Raeburn,"  191 1,  p.  45. 
Companion  picture  to  No.  59. 

THEODORE  ROUSSEAU 

French  School;  1812-1867 

No.  57    Evening:  Fontainebleau. 

A  pool  in  the  foreground;  on  the  far  side  of  it  are  figures 
and  a  cow  near  trees.  A  low  horizon  on  the  right.  An  autumn 
landscape,  seen  towards  sunset. 

1:164: 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


Canvas,  14^  inches  by  17^  inches. 
Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 


(0.36x0.45) 


SIR  THOMAS  LAWRENCE,  P.R.A. 

English  School;  ijdg-iS^o 


ROM  the  very  outset  Lawrence  was  self-taught  and 


showed  marvellous  precocity,  for  at  the  early  age  of  five 


he  made  chalk  portraits  of  his  father's  friends!  By 
1786  he  sought  to  work  in  an  oil  medium;  he  was  technically 
so  successful  that,  on  the  death  of  Reynolds  in  1792,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Painter  in  Ordinary  to  the  King.  Making  rapid  prog- 
ress, he  was,  by  the  time  of  Hoppner's  death  in  18 10,  without 
any  serious  rival  in  portraiture  both  in  official  circles  and  in 
general  esteem.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  in  spite  of  the 
popular  qualities  of  his  art,  his  best  pictures  belong  to  the  years 
of  his  early  maturity,  and  that  his  male  portraits  of  that  time 
especially  call  for  encomiums.  With  a  few  exceptions,  his  later 
works,  and  particularly  his  portraits  of  ladies,  are  characterized 
by  flashy  superficiality,  want  of  sincerity  and  of  dignity,  staring 
colour  contrasts,  theatrical  distributions  of  light  and  shade, 
and  a  careless  gaudiness  that  is  apt  to  degenerate  into  spurious 
elegance.  Such  criticism  of  Lawrence  the  painter  is  justified; 
Lawrence  the  draughtsman  is  entitled  to  very  high  esteem. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  thought  in  pencil  what  he  expressed  in 
oil.  His  activities  with  crayon  and  pencil  find  an  echo  in  his 
choice  of  the  magnificent  collection  that  he  formed  of  draw- 
ings by  the  Old  Masters.  It  is  not  altogether  surprising  that 
to  him  was  due  an  increase  in  the  size  of  frames  at  annual 
exhibitions,  and  that  he  substituted  richly  decorated  frames  for 
the  narrow,  unpretentious  and  more  desirable  ones  of  an 
earlier  period. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


No.  58    The  Ladies  Maryborough  {''The  Three  Lovely 
Sisters''). 

Portrait  group  of  three  figures  seen  to  the  bust  and  in  full 
face ;  in  long-sleeved  dresses ;  the  hair  in  short  curls. 

A  delicate  pencil  drawing,  the  eyes,  cheeks  and  mouth  in  coloured  chalk. 
On  paper  or  board,  6^  inches  by  9  inches  (0.16x0.22),  octagonal, 
the  corners  cut  away. 

The  drawing  is  framed  so  as  to  show  the  original  letter  of  October  15, 
1875,  affixed  to  the  back: 

"53  Charlotte  Street 
Portland  Place,  W. 

Oct.  15,  1875. 

My  dear  Sir: 

I  have  seen  the  Drawing  of  the  three  Misses  Bagot  [sic~\,  which 
in  my  opinion  is  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  P.R.A. 

Yours  faithfully 

(Signed)       Chas.  G.  Lewis. 

John  Hardcastle,  Esq. 
7  North  Bank 
N.  W." 

The  three  Ladies  Maryborough  were  daughters  of  William  Wellesley, 
who  was  born  May  20,  1763,  and  in  1778  changed  his  name  to  Wel- 
lesley-Pole.  On  May  17,  1784,  he  married  Katharine  Elizabeth,  eldest 
daughter  of  Admiral  the  Hon.  John  Forbes.  He  was  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  1811-12,  and  Master  of  the  Mint,  1815-23.  He  was 
created  Baron  Maryborough,  July  17,  1821 ;  Master  of  the  Buckhounds, 
1828-30;  and  Postmaster-General,  1834-35.  On  the  death  of  the 
Marquess  of  Wellesley,  a  brother,  in  1842,  he  succeeded  to  the  earldom 
of  Mornington.  He  was  one  of  five  brothers,  four  of  whom  were  peers. 
He  died  in  1845.  By  his  wife  (who  died  October  23,  1851,  aged  91) 
he  had  issue :  ( i )  William,  who  succeeded  as  fourth  Earl  of  Morning- 
ton;  and  the  three  ladies  here  represented;  (2)  Mary  Charlotte  Anne, 
who,  July  22,  1806,  married  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  Charles  Bagot  (who 
died  1843);  she  died  February  2,  1845;  (3)  Emily  Harriet,  who, 
in  1 81 4,  married  Field  Marshal  the  first  Baron  Raglan  (born  1788; 
died  1855)  ;  she  died  March  6,  1881 ;  (4)  Priscilla  Anne,  who,  June  26, 

1:1663 


THE  Drawing-room 


1811,  married  John  Burghersh,  who  afterwards  succeeded  as  eleventh 
Earl  of  Westmoreland  (born  1784;  died  1859)  l  she  died  February  18, 
1879. 

Included  in  an  Exhibition  of  Sixty  Drawings  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence, 
held  at  the  Edward  Gallery,  London,  1913,  No.  41,  and  reproduced  as 
the  frontispiece  to  the  catalogue  by  C.  R.  Grundy,  together  with  the 
following  comment: 

''This  highly  wrought  and  fascinating  example  of  Lawrence's 
work,  when  in  the  height  of  his  power,  is  a  version  of  the  well-known 
work  executed  for  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  may  probably  be 
regarded  as  an  amended  version.  For  in  the  Duke's  drawing  the 
three  Ladies  were  shown  in  full  length,  and  their  figures,  as  often 
the  case  with  Lawrence,  are  not  nearly  so  finely  executed  as  the 
heads.  The  three  ladies  were  nieces  of  the  Duke,  being  daughters 
of  his  elder  [sici  brother.  Lord  Maryborough." 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  191 3,  No.  41. 

In  the  catalogue  of  the  engraved  works  of  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  in- 
cluded in  Lord  Ronald  Gower's  ''Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,"  1900,  p.  107, 
it  is  stated  that  "the  Duke  of  Wellington's  drawing  was  bought  by  the 
first  Duke  of  Wellington  from  the  artist  for  £4.0;  it  is  at  Apsley  House." 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  lent  to  the  Burlington  House  Exhibition,  in 
1904,  No.  149,  the  drawing  in  his  collection,  which  was  then  catalogued 
as  "Three  small  full  lengths  seated,  grouped  together.  .  .  .  Black  and 
red  chalk.    iS}^  inches  by  14^  inches." 

Sir  Walter  Armstrong:  "Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,"  191 3,  p.  186,  cata- 
logues the  Apsley  House  drawing  as  "The  Daughters  of  the  third  Earl 
of  Mornington :  The  Three  Lovely  Sisters,"  Priscilla  Anne,  Lady  Bur- 
ghersh (afterwards  Countess  of  Westmoreland),  Lady  Mary  Wellesley 
(afterwards  Lady  Bagot),  and  Lady  Harriet  (afterwards  Lady  Rag- 
lan). He  states  that  the  drawing  was  included  in  Cooke's  Exhibition 
at  Soho  Square,  1 822;  and  describes  it  as  "Black  and  red  chalk.  White 
dresses,  girdled  under  tjie  breast.  Long  sleeves,  full  at  the  shoulders 
and  wrists.  The  hair  in  short  curls  over  the  head  and  forehead.  The 
centre  girl  holds  her  sandalled  foot  in  her  left  hand.  Engraved  by  J. 
Thomson,  1827." 


The  Apsley  House  drawing  is  reproduced  in  the  Art  Journal,  1902,  p.  2. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


SIR  HENRY  RAEBURN,  R.A. 

Scottish  School;  1^^6-182^ 

No.  59    Portrait  of  Edward  Satchwell  Eraser. 

Bust  length,  in  full  face,  but  turned  very  slightly  towards  the 
right.  In  green  and  blue  tartan  coat,  white  waistcoat  and 
stock.  He  has  a  healthy  youthful  complexion  and  his  hair  falls 
on  his  forehead  and  over  his  ears.   Neutral  background. 

Canvas,  29j^  inches  by  24^  inches.  (0.74x0.62) 

Painted  in  1803,  when  seventeen  years  of  age. 

Many  would  assume  that  the  Fraser  family  was  of  Scottish  origin. 
Yet  it  was  not  Celtic,  but  Norman.  We  first  recognize  the  Frisels  or 
Frasers  in  the  array  of  those  adventurers  who  accompanied  William  the 
Conqueror  to  England.  The  clan  in  ancient  times  was  styled  Frisel  or 
Fresal  or  Fraser.  The  first  of  these  names  had  its  origin  in  the  French 
word  fraise,  or  "strawberry."  Indeed,  the  armorial  bearings  of  Lord 
Lovat,  head  of  the  principal  family  of  the  Frasers,  still  preserve  the  three 
cinquefoils  argent,  or  fraiseSj  together  with  the  motto  "Je  suis  pret." 
In  ancient  records  the  clan  was  settled  in  the  Lothians,  in  the  east  of 
Scotland.  The  first  name  of  Fraser  in  written  records  is  that  of  Gil- 
bert de  Fraser,  as  witness  to  a  charter  of  Cospatrick  to  the  monks  of 
Coldstream  in  1190.  From  East  Lothian,  their  earliest  resting-place 
in  Scotland,  they  diverged  into  Tweeddale  in  the  XII  and  XIII  cen- 
turies, and  subsequently  into  the  shires  of  Inverness — ^which  will  spe- 
cially concern  us — and  Aberdeen.  A  line  of  Frasers  owned  Oliver 
Castle,  County  Peebles,  in  the  XIII  and  XIV  centuries;  the  last  of 
them,  Sir  Simon  Fraser,  was  executed  by  order  of  Edward  I  in  1 306. 
Two  years  later  Sir  Andrew  Fraser  died,  and  was  reputed  "of  good 
memory."  His  eldest  son,  Sir  Simon  Fraser,  in  1308  joined  Robert 
Bruce  at  the  battle  which  that  immortal  hero  fought  with  the  Earl  of 
Buchan  at  Inverurie,  but  he  was  himself  slain  at  the  battle  of  Halidon 
Hill  in  1333.  From  this  ancient  strain  of  the  Frasers  derive  more  than 
a  score  of  cadet  families  of  Fraser. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


Here,  however,  we  have  to  deal  only  with  the  Frasers  of  Reelick  (at 
times  ill-spelt  Reelig),  the  Frasers  of  Balnain  and  the  Frasers  of  Ald- 
hourie,  with  whom  they  intermarried.  We  may  note  that  Hugh  or 
Hutcheon  Ban  Fraser,  a  natural-born  son  of  Thomas,  fourth  Lord  Lovat 
— who  had  ten  children  by  his  two  wives — was  the  progenitor  of  the 
Frasers  of  Reelick  and  Moniack. 

The  first  eleven  successive  heads  of  the  family  of  Fraser  of  Reelick 
were  thus :  Hugh  or  Hutcheon  Ban  Fraser,  I ;  Thomas,  H ;  Thomas, 
HI ;  Alexander  IV,  V,  VI  and  VII ;  James  VIII ;  Alexander  IX  and  X ; 
and  James  XI. 

This  last-named  James  built  the  new  house  at  Easter  Moniack,  the 
family  residence  in  which  this  and  other  family  portraits  by  Raeburn 
were  in  time  to  hang.  He  resided  for  seventeen  years  in  India.  He  mar- 
ried Mary,  only  daughter  of  Edward  Satchwell,  of  Satchwell,  in  War- 
wickshire. Having  had  one  son  and  three  daughters,  he  died,  aged 
forty- two,  on  June  21,  1754,  at  Moniack. 

Edward  Satchwell  Fraser,  XII  of  Reelick,  born  at  Easter  Moniack 
on  April  22,  1751,  married  on  September  11,  1782,  Jane,  third  daughter 
of  William  Fraser  (i 703-1 775),  IV  of  Balnain.  His  wife  lived  until 
December  20,  1847,  dying  at  the  age  of  98.  He  died  in  1835,  having 
had  issue: 

1.  James  Baillie  Fraser,  his  son  and  successor  as  XIII  of  Reelick, 
was  born  at  Edinburgh,  June  11,  1783.  In  early  life  he  went  to  the 
West  Indies ;  but  leaving  soon  afterwards,  he  proceeded  to  the  East. 
He  became  a  partner  in  a  well  known  mercantile  house  in  Calcutta. 
But  his  talents  lay  more  in  the  direction  of  the  fine  arts  and  adven- 
ture than  of  commerce.  Having  travelled  extensively,  he  returned 
home  in  1822.  On  September  4,  1823,  he  married  Jane  Fraser- 
Tytler,  whose  portrait  by  Raeburn  is  in  this  collection  (No.  56). 
On  the  death  of  James  Baillie  Fraser  at  Easter  Moniack,  January 
23,  1856,  aged  72,  the  male  representation  of  the  family  became  ex- 
tinct. He  left  the  estate  of  Reelick  in  life  rent  to  his  widow,  with 
remainder  to  his  sister,  Jane  Anne  Catherine  Fraser. 

2.  William  Fraser,  born  at  Easter  Moniack,  April  6,  1784.  He 
was  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Bengal  Civil  Service,  and  was 
on  the  Bengal  Establishment,  serving  with  very  great  distinction 
as  Chief  Commissioner  of  Revenue  and  Circuit  at  Delhi.  He  was 
assassinated  there,  March  25,  1835,  by  a  native  trooper  at  the 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM  , 

instigation  of  the  Nawab  of  Ferozepore.  An  extraordinary  number 
of  incidents  of  a  sensational  character  formed  the  evidence  which  re- 
sulted in  the  capital  punishment  of  his  murderers.  He  had  been 
painted  in  April,  1801,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  by  Raeburn;  the  portrait 
is  now  in  a  private  collection  in  New  York.  In  the  grounds  of 
Easter  Moniack,  the  family  seat  in  Inverness-shire,  there  still  stands 
under  the  shadow  of  a  wide-spreading  cedar  of  Lebanon  a  small 
cenotaph  sacred  to  the  memory  of  him  and  three  of  his  brothers. 

3.  Edward  Satchwell  Eraser  (or  Edward  Satchwell  Eraser,  Jr.,  as 
he  should  perhaps  be  called)  was  born  at  Easter  Moniack,  April  26, 
1786.  He  was  painted  by  Raeburn  in  1803,  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
in  the  portrait  now  before  us.  He  served  in  the  Honourable  East 
India  Company's  Service,  and  died  in  St.  Helena,  April  25,  1813. 

4.  Alexander  Charles  Eraser,  of  the  East  Indian  Civil  Service,  was 
born  at  Inverness,  April  10,  1789,  and  died  at  Delhi,  June  4,  18 16. 
He  also  was  painted  by  Raeburn,  sitting  in  1803,  at  the  age  of 
fourteen. 

5.  George  John  Eraser,  born  May  13,  1800,  was  an  officer  in  the 
Honourable  East  India  Company's  service.  Marrying  in  1832,  he 
died  in  India,  in  1842,  without  issue.  Raeburn  painted  him  in  1815, 
at  the  age  of  fifteen. 

6.  Mary  Eraser,  died  young  and  unmarried  in  September,  1806. 

7.  Jane  Catherine  Eraser,  died  in  1797,  when  only  three  years  old. 

8.  Jane  Anne  Catherine  Eraser,  born  April  25,  I797j  was  painted 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  in  1816,  by  Raeburn.  That  portrait  passed 
in  time  from  the  William  Beattie  Collection  into  that  of  the  late 
Maurice  Kann  in  Paris,  and  later  into  that  of  Mr.  John  Willys  of 
Toledo,  Ohio.  In  her  twentieth  year  she  married,  June  10,  18 16, 
Philip  Affleck  Eraser,  IX  of  Culduthel,  one  of  the  greatest  sports- 
men and  keenest  anglers  of  the  day,  and  for  many  years  Convener 
of  the  Northern  Meeting.  He  died  September  4,  1862,  having  had 
seven  sons  and  six  daughters.  As  the  only  surviving  child  of  Ed- 
ward Satchwell  Eraser,  XII  of  Reelick,  she  succeeded  to  the  Reelick 
estates  in  1861,  but  gave  them  over  in  1879  to  Philip  Affleck  Eraser, 
XVI  of  Reelick  and  XI  of  Culduthel,  who  was  born  in  1845.  She 
survived  until  May,  1881.  In  1897  Philip  Affleck  Eraser  removed 
the  nine  Eraser  portraits  by  Raeburn  from  the  family  seat  at  Easter 

1:170: 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 

Moniack,  and  sold  them  at  Christie's  on  July  lO,  1897.  This  por- 
trait was  No.  27  in  that  memorable  sale. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  November,  1909,  No.  10. 

Armstrong:  "Raeburn,"  1901,  p.  102. 

Burlington  Magazine,  1910,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  368. 

Arthur  Hoeber,  in  the  International  Studio,  1 9 10,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p. 

Ixxiv,  writes  as  follows: 

"Raeburn  painted  a  manly  young  Scotchman  \_sic\  in  a  green 
plaid,  of  wonderful  sturdiness,  a  fine  type  of  Anglo-Saxon  breeding. 
You  shall  look  long  before  you  will  find  a  more  entirely  satisfying 
example  of  the  art  of  Raeburn,  and  looking  at  it  you  will  under- 
stand the  enthusiasm  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  for  his  countryman. 

"At  his  best,  Raeburn  was  quite  unsurpassed  for  straight  por- 
traiture by  any  of  his  contemporaries,  and  this  is  in  his  best  vein, 
brushed  in  with  rare  authority,  in  a  straightforward  manner,  in 
admirable  color,  once  more  the  veritable  human  document.  'Each 
of  his  portraits,'  says  Stevenson,  'is  not  only  a  piece  of  history,  but  a 
piece  of  biography  into  the  bargain.  He  was  a  born  painter  of  por- 
traits. He  looked  people  shrewdly  between  the  eyes,  surprised  their 
manners  in  their  faces,  and  possessed  himself  of  what  was  essential 
in  their  character.'  " 

Putnanis  Magazine,  February,  1910,  Vol.  VH,  p.  525. 

J.  Greig:  "Raeburn,"  191 1,  p.  45. 

Connoisseur,  1913,  Vol.  XXXVI,  pp.  163  and  188,  as  "Edward  Sack- 
ville  \_sic^  Eraser." 

Companion  picture  to  No.  56. 


i:i7in 


V- 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


CHARLES  FRANgOIS  DAUBIGNY 

French  School;  iSiy-iSyS 

No.  60    Evening  Solitude  {''The  Poor), 

A  lake  in  which  rushes  grow  extends  across  the  whole  fore- 
ground. Ducks  are  swimming  across  towards  the  bank  on  the 
left,  which,  like  that  on  the  right,  is  well  wooded.  The  water 
flows  into  the  middle  distance.   Birds  in  the  sunny  sky. 

Canvas,  9  inches  by  15^  inches.  (0.22x0.40) 

Signed  and  dated  1867,  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Georges  Lutz,  and  included  in  the  sale 
held  at  the  Georges  Petit  Galleries,  Paris,  May  26-27,  1902  (No.  44), 
under  the  title  of  "L'Etang"  (0.23  xo.40). 


MARIANO  J.  M.  B.  FORTUNY 

Spanish  School;  iSjS-iSy^ 

MARIANO  JOSE  MARIE  BERNARDO  FOR- 
TUNY Y  CARBO  was  the  son  of  a  cabinet-maker 
and  early  became  an  orphan.  He  was  painter,  lithog- 
rapher, etcher,  engraver  and  in  his  genre  the  head  of  a  school 
before  his  death  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six.  Robust,  gay, 
light-hearted  and  vivacious,  he  stands  for  all  that  is  technically 
brilliant  in  the  modern  art  of  painting,  having  himself  created 
the  ficole  de  la  Main  and  so  fathered  the  whole  brood  of  the 
virtuosi — Zamacois,  Madrazo,  Rico,  and  Boldini.  Impec- 
cable draughtsmanship  and  dazzling  colour  resulted  with  him 
in  paintings  which  glitter  without  being  artificial.  "Whatever 
sparkled  attracted  him:  he  was  a  moth,  a  Zoroastrian."  His 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


pictures  are  still-life  pieces  in  which  a  man  is  a  man  and  a  vase 
is  a  vase,  and  one  is  as  good  as  the  other. 

No.  6 1    An  Arab  Guard. 

Small  full-length  figure  of  a  rather  inert  Arab,  dressed  in 
white  and  seated  on  a  step  with  his  legs  crossed.  Bare-headed, 
but  bearded,  he  is  smoking  his  hookah  held  in  the  left  hand, 
which  rests  on  an  oven  by  his  side.  A  vase  and  a  circular  bowl 
are  on  the  oven.  With  his  right  hand  he  grasps  his  gun,  the 
butt  end  of  which  rests  on  his  thigh.  In  the  left  foreground 
are  brown  and  red  draperies.   Dark  background. 

Canvas,  22j4  inches  by  i8>^  inches.  (0.56x0.46) 

Signed,  and  dated  1863,  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Mrs.  Bloomfield  Moore,  of  Great  Stan- 
hope Street,  Mayfair,  London,  and  sold  at  Christie's,  May  5,  1900, 
No.  18.  ,  4 

Perhaps  this  picture  is  to  be  identified  with  that  mentioned  in  Davillier : 
"Fortuny,"  1875,  p.  147;  and  so  formerly  in  the  d'Artez  Collection  at 
Barcelona. 


THEODORE  ROUSSEAU 

French  School;  1812-1867 

No.  62  FONTAINEBLEAU. 

A  rugged  part  of  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau,  with  scanty 
vegetation  in  the  foreground.  In  the  middle  distance  are  trees, 
and  beyond  may  perhaps  be  discerned  the  Gorges  d'Apremont. 
The  sky  overhead  is  cloudy,  but  the  distant  landscape  is  bathed 
in  sunlight. 

Canvas,  loj^  inches  by  19^^  inches.  (0.26x0.50) 
Signed  in  the  left  foreground. 

1:173: 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A. 

English  School;  I'jzj-i'jSS 

No.  63    Portrait  (supposed)  of  the  Artist. 

Very  small  bust  portrait,  turned  slightly  to  the  left.  In  a 
blue  coat,  lemon-yellow  vest,  and  lace  cravat;  the  hair  curly 
and  powdered. 

Painted  in  a  feigned  oval  on  a  rectangular  panel ;  6  inches  by  4^  inches. 
(0.15x0.11). 

In  a  letter  of  October  20,  1903,  from  Stephen  Gooden  and  now  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft,  this  very  small  panel  is  stated  to  have 
come  from  the  collection  of  Francis  Bentham,  of  Suffolk;  it  is  there 
said  also  to  be  "in  Gainsborough's  late  manner,  having  been  painted  at 
Schomberg  House,  Pall  Mall,"  and  to  represent  the  great  English  por- 
trait painter. 


MATTHEW  MARIS 

Dutch  School;  18^9-19 17 

MATTHEW,  or  Matthijs  or  "Thijs,"  Maris,  the  sec- 
ond of  the  three  brothers,  was  provided  with  "pen- 
cils and  paper"  while  a  mere  child  by  his  father,  and 
so  had  every  encouragement  to  become  a  painter  of  renown. 
Going  with  his  elder  brother,  Jacob,  to  Antwerp  in  1855,  he 
became  a  pupil  of  Nicaise  de  Keyser,  with  Alma-Tadema  as 
a  fellow  student.  Travelling  as  far  afield  as  Germany  and 
Switzerland  in  186 1,  he  became  a  resident  of  Paris  from  1869 
to  1 87 1.  Having  enrolled  himself  in  the  Municipal  Guard  in 
1870,  he  suffered  severely  in  the  besieged  city.  Before  long  he 
returned  to  his  native  land,  where  he  revealed  great  precocity 

1:1741 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 

in  his  art,  without,  however,  earning  recognition  as  a  painter 
of  promise.  In  1872  he  removed  to  London,  where  he  was 
to  spend  the  remaining  forty-five  years  of  a  life  passed  in  ob- 
scurity. He  was  content  to  remain  almost  alone  in  the  world, 
because  he  could  thus  keep  his  own  dreams  and  his  own  im- 
agination to  himself.  Even  when  his  work  had  become  highly 
esteemed  and  his  pictures  were  sought  after,  he  declined  to 
accept  lucrative  commissions. 

His  eldest  brother  has  described  how  Matthew  would  work 
at  the  most  exquisite  things  until  he  could  easily  finish  a  given 
picture  in  a  single  day.  Then  he  would  "upset  the  whole  work 
and  utterly  refuse  to  be  convinced  of  its  excellence." 

His  canvases  ranged  principally  around  themes  of  artless 
incidents,  such  as,  of  themselves,  any  child  can  understand; 
but  it  was  his  method  to  express  these  ideas,  conveyed  in  a 
period  of  charm  and  attractiveness,  with  full  artistic  quality  of 
pencil  and  brush.  Never  did  he  waver  in  the  complete  con- 
secration of  his  life  to  his  art,  sacrificing  all  to  it,  setting  aside 
all  consideration  of  personal  comfort  and  personal  gain,  and 
accepting  as  it  came  to  him  each  phase  and  circumstance  of  the 
life  that  such  an  attitude  entails.  A  recluse  from  the  world, 
yet  living  within  ear-shot  of  the  noisy  traffic  of  London,  he 
was  a  "self-bound  prisoner  to  his  liberty"  but  "free  as  in  a 
hermitage."  As  Mrs.  van  Wisselingh,  widow  of  his  great 
friend  and  his  executrix,  says,  "Thijs  was  always  ten  years  old 
and  full  of  wit  and  fun,  so  gay  at  times,  singing  when  working, 
sometimes  singing  whole  operas,  always  a  magic  person,  a  sage 
and  profound." 

He  painted  "everything." 

No.  64    The  Boy  with  a  Hoop. 

Small  full-length  figure  of  a  boy  in  a  puce-coloured  jacket 
with  a  belt,  black  knickerbockers,  white  stockings  and  red 
shoes.  Standing  before  a  yellow-toned  wall,  he  holds  a  hoop 
in  his  right  hand  and  a  hoop-stick  in  his  left. 


.THE  DRAWING-ROOM 

Canvas,  17^  inches  by         inches.  (0.45x0.29) 

Inscribed  on  the  right,  half  way  down  the  canvas:  "M.  M.  '63." 

Exhibited  at  the  French  Galleries,  London,  1909,  and  illustrated  in  the 
catalogue  (No.  4). 

The  Connoisseur,  191 7,  Vol.  XLIX,  p.  108. 

D.  Croal  Thomson:  "Matthew  Maris,"  191 7,  plate  34. 


JOSEF  ISRAELS 

Dutch  School;  182/f-igii 

IT  was  thought  in  his  early  life  that  this  son  of  a  stock- 
broker was  destined  for  the  rabbinate,  but  while  still  a 
boy  he  was  placed  under  Jan  Kruseman.  His  first  artis- 
tic inclinations  and  earliest  essays  in  painting  were  consecrated 
to  portraiture,  and  thus  in  time  he  was  led  to  that  deep, 
inward  expression  which  gives  to  his  late  paintings  the  stamp 
of  mastery.  It  was  not  until  middle  life  that  he  succeeded  in 
finding  himself.  For  it  was  during  a  visit  for  the  benefit  of 
his  health  to  the  little  fishing  village  of  Zandvoort,  near  Haar- 
lem, that  he  began  to  study  the  daily  routine  of  fisher  folk, 
their  miseries  and  their  joys,  and  the  hidden  beauties  of  their 
humble  life.  Gradually  the  tightness  apparent  in  his  earlier 
pictures  gave  way  to  freer  handling;  he  threw  off  an  inclination 
to  confuse  pathos  and  sentimentality,  the  seriousness  of  life 
and  its  lachrymose  aspects,  until  he  became  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  figures  of  modern  continental  art.  Working  by 
intuition,  laboriously  and  with  his  ultimate  goal  ever  in  view, 
he  attained  his  aim  by  means  of  his  devotion.  After  eighty- 
seven  years,  how  else  could  his  life  have  ended,  seeing  that  in 
his  conceptions  of  humble  life  he  saw  beauty  in  all  its  phases? 
And  so  he  lived  to  receive  the  recognition  which,  for  so  many 
Dutch  artists,  was  posthumous. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 

No.  65  Pick-a-back. 

Small  full-length  figure  of  an  old  fisherman;  he  wears  clogs, 
and  is  holding  a  little  child  on  his  back  as  he  walks  away  from 
the  waves  that  beat  upon  the  sea-shore.  A  fishing-smack  in 
the  offing  on  the  left. 

Canvas,  ii^  inches  by  S}i  inches.  (0.29x0.20) 
Signed  in  the  right  foreground. 
Athenaunij  August  19,  191 1,  p.  222. 


JACOB  MARIS 
Dutch  School;  iS^J-iSgg 

JACOB,  or  James,  or  "J^^P"  Maris  was  born  at  The 
Hague,  his  father  being  a  humble  printer.  The  family 
seems  to  have  been  of  Bohemian  or  Austrian  extraction 
and  to  have  spelt  the  name  Maresch  or  Maresq;  in  later  days 
Marris  was  the  spelling,  until  Maris  became  the  accepted 
form.  It  has  not  often  happened  that  one  family  has  pro- 
duced three  sons  who  were  to  be  artists  of  such  high  rank,  and 
who,  from  their  childhood,  so  instinctively  perceived  the  road 
that  lay  before  them  that  they  were  already  painters  at  an  age 
when  most  lads  are  still  at  school.  Generally  speaking,  Jacob 
was  to  express  himself  with  some  degree  of  hesitancy  at  first, 
but  by  so  doing  he  was  to  prepare  himself  for  a  more  lofty 
flight.  He  was  to  learn  something  also  from  his  younger 
brother  Matthew,  who,  in  time,  was  to  turn  his  dreams  into 
revelations  with  the  reality  of  his  memories.  Willem,  on  his 
part,  was  to  become  enamoured  of  sunlight  and  the  verdure 
of  landscape. 

A  pupil  at  the  age  of  twelve  in  the  Art  School  of  The 
Hague,  Jacob  three  years  later  became  a  student  under  Huib 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


van  Hove,  with  whom  he  moved  to  Antwerp  in  1853.  Later 
he  became  a  pupil  of  Hebert,  visiting  Fontainebleau  and  Paris 
as  early  as  1866,  the  influence  of  the  Barbizon  School  not 
being  betrayed  in  his  works  as  much  as  one  might,  perhaps, 
have  supposed.  His  sensitive  feeling  for  colour,  his  fine  design 
and  the  gravity  of  his  conceptions  place  him  among  the  finest 
landscape  and  genre  painters  of  his  century.  From  1870  on- 
wards the  nature  and  essence  of  the  lowlands  of  Holland 
were  revealed  to  him.  His  best  works  show  a  steady  equi- 
librium in  balancing  tall,  unwieldy  windmills,  low-lying  towns, 
sluggish  canals  and  smooth  beaches.  For  such  elements  in  his 
compositions  are  the  very  soul  of  Dutch  landscape  in  glorious 
equipoise.  It  may  be  recalled  that  it  was  the  collector  H.  G. 
Tersteeg  who  interested  James  Staats  Forbes,  and  indirectly 
such  other  English  collectors  as  Alexander  Young,  in  Jacob 
Maris's  pictures. 

No.  66    The  Quay:  A  Dutch  Town. 

The  view  is  taken  from  the  bank  of  the  canal  that  is  seen  in 
the  right  foreground.  Barges  are  moored  to  the  wharf.  On 
the  quay,  more  to  the  left,  are  barrels,  a  man  with  a  brown 
and  gray  horse,  and,  still  further  away,  two  men  with  a  horse 
and  cart.  A  water-mill  and  the  brown-tiled  roofs  of  many 
houses  are  to  be  seen  in  the  left  middle  distance.  In  the  dis- 
tance on  the  right,  on  the  far  bank  of  the  canal,  are  numer- 
ous other  buildings  and  a  water-mill.  Sunny  sky  with  cloud 
cumuli. 

Canvas,  32  inches  by  49  inches.  (0.8 1  x  1.24) 

Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

The  choice  of  the  subject,  and  the  exact  position  in  which  the  artist  has 
set  his  easel  before  this  Dutch  town,  are  in  every  way  typical.  Yet 
we  may  point  out  that  alike  in  general  plan,  and  apparently  a  view  of 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


the  same  town,  is  that  shown  in  D.  Croal  Thomson's  "The  Brothers 
Maris"  in  the  summer  number  of  the  Studio,  1907  (Illustration  J.  10). 
Another  "Dutch  Town"  by  our  artist  was  lent  by  J.  C.  J.  Drucker  to 
the  Guildhall  Exhibition,  London,  1903,  No.  100  (36^  inches  by  66^^ 
inches). 

WILLEM  MARIS 

Dutch  School;  184^-igio 

No.  67    Cattle  in  the  Meadows. 

In  the  left  foreground  a  cow  is  standing  at  the  edge  of  a 
pool  and  drinking.  Further  back,  and  more  to  the  right,  are 
two  other  cows.   Gray  sky. 

Canvas,  33^  inches  by  49  inches.  (0.82  x  1.24) 

Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

This  is  in  subject  and  treatment  a  typical  work.  Another  "In  the 
Meadows"  by  this  artist,  but  in  water-colour,  is  in  the  collection  of  H. 
G.  Tersteeg. 

*'I  never  paint  cows,  only  effects  of  light,"  said  Willem  Maris.  Rather 
should  he  have  said  that  he  used  light  to  reveal  the  external  character 
of  objects  in  nature,  while  painting  the  characters  not  only  of  animals, 
but  of  fields  and  trees  and  water. 

JOSEF  ISRAELS 
Dutch  School;  1824-igii 

No.  68    The  Sewing-School  at  Katwijk. 

An  interior,  humbly  furnished  and  lit  from  the  window  on 
the  right;  a  muslin  curtain  hangs  before  the  lower  part  of  it, 
and  two  pots  of  flowers  are  on  the  window-sill  inside.   An  old 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 

woman,  cutting  out  material,  is  seated  on  the  far  side  of  a 
plain  wooden  table  by  the  window.  Opposite  her,  in  the 
extreme  right  foreground,  a  girl  with  her  sewing  sits  with  her 
back  to  us;  on  the  floor,  by  her  left  side,  is  her  work-basket 
and  near  by  is  a  cat  asleep  on  the  stone  floor.  The  sewing 
class  or  school  is  grouped  in  the  left  half  of  the  composition, 
seven  young  girls  of  varying  ages  being  ranged  in  two  rows ; 
the  three  in  the  front  row  have  footstools;  one  of  them  is 
threading  her  needle,  while  the  others  are  sewing  busily;  all 
wear  a  blue  skirt,  apron  or  shawl.  In  the  background*  to  the 
left  is  a  wardrobe,  and  more  to  the  right  is  a  door.  High  on 
the  wall  between  hang  a  pair  of  family  portraits,  one  being  on 
either  side  of  a  larger  picture  or  mirror. 

Canvas,  44  inches  by  57j4  inches.  '  (i.ii  x  1.46) 

Signed  in  full  in  the  right  foreground;  painted  in  188 1. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  J.  Staats  Forbes  and  by  him  lent  to  the 
Guildhall  Exhibition,  London,  1903,  No.  86.  On  that  occasion  it  drew 
forth  much  favourable  comment  in  the  press. 

"Other  widely  known  works  from  the  hand  of  this  hard-working  mas- 
ter are  the  'Interior  of  the  Orphanage  at  Katwijk,'  of  1869,  and 
'The  Sewing-School'  at  the  same  institution,  of  1881,  both  wonder- 
ful examples  of  his  power  of  rendering  children." 

Mrs.  A.  Bell:  "Representative  Painters  of  the  XIX  Century," 
1899,  p.  179. 


JACOB  MARIS 

Dutch  School;  iS^J-iSgg 

No.  69    A  View  of  a  Dutch  Town. 

The  turgid  waters  of  a  canal  in  Holland  cross  the  fore- 
ground, and  by  the  quays  are  moored  sailing-vessels  and  barges. 
On  each  bank  are  houses  with  brown-tiled,  high-pitched 

[ISO] 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 

roofs.  Other  buildings  in  the  middle  distance ;  a  church  tower 
beyond. 

Canvas,  15%.  inches  by  23^  inches.  (0.38x0.59) 
Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

\ 

ANTON  MAUVE 

Dutch  School;  1838-1888 

No.  70    Changing  Pasture. 

Along  a  rough  and  sandy  track,  edged  by  scanty  pasture  and 
a  few  scrubby  bushes,  an  old  shepherd  is  leading  his  flock. 
His  back  is  turned  towards  us,  and  his  staff  held  before  him. 
He  is  seen  on  the  left,  as  he  makes  his  way  to  the  richer  pas- 
ture that  lies  on  the  far  side  of  the  ground  which  rises  before  us. 

Canvas,  32  inches  by  48 inches.  (0.81  x  1.23) 

Signed  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

We  can  indicate  the  present  whereabouts  of  a  certain  number  of  pic- 
tures by  Mauve  that  are  closely  related  to  this  one  in  subject,  presen- 
tation and  technique.  In  the  Elkins  Collection  at  Philadelphia  is  a 
''Return  of  the  Flock,"  in  which  the  shepherd  also  leads  his  sheep. 
Akin  is  the  "Spring"  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York,  although 
the  sheep  are  grazing  and  not  moving  onw^ards.  In  the  "Autumn,"  of 
the  same  Museum,  the  shepherd  follows  his  flock.  Near  to  these  in 
style  is  also  the  "On  the  Heath"  of  the  J.  C.  J.  Drucker  Collection 
(reproduced  by  Max  Rooses:  "Dutch  Painters  of  the  XIX  Century," 
1900,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  7).  In  "On  the  Heath"  (reproduced  in  the  Maga- 
zine of  Art,  1896,  p.  75)  the  flock-master  is  again  seen  leading  the  way 
along  a  rough  track.  The  "Flock  Returning"  of  the  Alexander  Young 
Collection  is  reproduced  in  the  Art  Journal,  1894,  P-  I05>  in  which,  at 
page  102,  is  illustrated  also  a  "Near  Laren":  in  that  neighbourhood  this 
canvas  was  almost  certainly  painted.  Mauve  finally  settled  there  in 
1883.  Other  such  works  may  be  studied  in  the  collections  of  Mrs. 
John  W.  Simpson,  Mrs.  H.  O.  Havemeyer,  Mrs.  H.  P.  Whitney  and 

[ISO 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


Mr.  T.  F.  Ryan,  and  in  the  galleries  of  the  Art  Association,  Montreal 


This  typical  example  is  reproduced  in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  for 
March,  1917,  p.  15,  and  criticized  at  p.  45. 


F  vigorous  physique,  his  graphic  and  forcible  manner 


played  a  predominant  part  both  in  his  conversation 


^^-^  and  in  his  pictures,  which  give  a  plain,  spontaneous 
effect.  A  passionate  fisherman,  he  caught  the  atmospheric 
influence  of  the  marsh-lands  and  dykes,  and  even  in  the  worst 
weather  he  might  still  be  found  working  out  of  doors.  He 
was  in  his  element  on  days  when  the  sky  was  stormy  and  the 
sun  would  fitfully  break  through  the  clouds.  "Nature  is  my 
teacher,"  he  would  say.  "You  must  see  Nature  in  all  her 
moods."  Much  of  his  time  was  spent  near  Noorden.  His 
water-colours  are  among  the  finest  in  modern  Dutch  art. 

No.  71    A  Gray  Day  in  Holland. 

The  immediate  foreground  is  given  up  to  the  slow-moving 
waters  of  a  canal,  on  which  a  barge  slowly  travels.  Houses 
are  on  the  far  bank,  both  in  the  left  middle  distance  and  further 
away  to  the  right. 

Canvas,  27^^  inches  by  39^  inches.  (0.69  x  i.oo) 

Signed,  and  dated  "  '99"  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 


(No.  576). 


JAN  HENDRIK  WEISSENBRUCH 

Dutch  School;  1824-igos 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


JEAN  CHARLES  CAZIN 
French  School;  1841-igoi 

A MASSIVE  head,  an  impressive  face  and  the  eyes  of  a 
poet  indicated  the  simplicity,  eloquence  and  sincerity 
'  of  the  man  and  his  art,  which  embraced  oil,  water- 
colour,  pastel  and  gouache,  together  with  sculpture,  wax  mod- 
elling and  ceramics.  He  did  not  favour  a  rough  impasto  or 
the  violence  of  a  palette-knife,  but  he  was  sympathetically 
emotional  in  his  rendering  of  the  effects  of  light. 

No.  72  Landscape. 

A  canal  seen  at  sunset.  Barges,  loaded  with  wooden  boards, 
are  in  the  right  foreground.  Further  down  stream  are  sailing 
vessels,  with  a  water-mill  on  the  bank  beyond.  In  the  right 
middle  distance  is  a  house,  in  which  the  lights  are  already  lit. 
A  damp  evening. 

Wood,  8%  inches  by  10  inches.  (0.20x0.25) 
Signed  in  the  left  foreground. 


RAIMUNDO  DE  MADRAZO 

Spanish  School;  Contemporary 

No.  73    Portrait  of  Mrs.  Charles  Phelps  Taft. 

Three-quarter  length;  seated  in  an  arm-chair  upon  which  a 
blue  drapery  is  spread.  The  body  turned  slightly  to  the  left, 
looking  to  the  front.  In  a  low-cut  white  dress,  the  sleeves 
trimmed  with  lace.  A  long  pearl  necklace,  part  of  which  is 
held  lightly  in  the  right  hand;  a  pearl  pendent  from  a  narrow 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


black  velvet  band,  passed  around  the  neck.  Roses  at  the  breast. 
Landscape  setting,  with  the  trunk  of  a  tree  on  the  right. 

Canvas,  48  inches  by  37^  inches.  ( 1.2 1  x  0.95) 

Signed,  and  dated  igo2. 

Mrs.  Anna  Taft,  daughter  of  David  Sinton,  married  Mr.  Charles 
Phelps  Taft,  December  4,  1873. 

The  features  of  Mrs.  Taft's  father  and  mother  are  portrayed  in  can- 
vases (No.  42  and  No.  43),  from  the  hand  of  the  same  artist,  in  this  col- 
lection. 

RAIMUNDO  DE  MADRAZO 

Spanish  School;  Contemporary 
No.  74    Portrait  of  Mr.  Charles  Phelps  Taft. 

Three-quarter  length,  turned  slightly  to  the  right;  seen  en 
face.  Seated  in  a  green-upholstered  arm-chair,  with  his  right 
arm  resting  on  it,  the  left  arm  by  his  side.  In  black  morning 
dress,  red  and  black  neck-tie.    Dark  background. 

Canvas,  48  inches  by  37^  inches.  (1.21  xo.95) 

Signed,  and  dated  1902,  on  the  left  side  of  the  chair. 

The  Taft  family  is  of  English  origin.  Robert  Taft,  who  came  to  this 
country  about  1670,  was  a  housewright  and  "the  twenty-ninth  settler  in 
the  town  of  Mendon  [since  called  Uxbridge],  Mass."  He  died  in 
1725,  his  wife  Sarah  surviving  him  a  year.  They  had  some  two  hun- 
dred grandchildren. 

Passing  over  their  son  Captain  Joseph,  their  grandson  Captain  Peter, 
and  their  great-grandson  Aaron,  we  come  to  their  great-great-grandson 
Judge  Peter  Rawson,  who,  born  1785,  removed  to  Cincinnati  in  1841. 

Judge  Peter  Rawson,  by  his  wife,  Sylvia  Howard,  was  the  father  of 
Judge  Alphonso  and  died  at  Cincinnati  in  1867. 

Alphonso  (1810-1891)  married  twice;  by  his  first  wife,  Fanny, 
daughter  of  Judge  Charles  Phelps,  whom  he  married  in  1841,  he  had 
three  sons  who  d.s.p.,  as  well  as  Charles  Phelps  (the  subject  of  this 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


portrait),  born  December  21,  1843,  and  Peter  Rawson,  who  died  1888. 
She  died  1851. 

Alphonso  married  secondly,  December  26,  1853,  Louisa  Mary  Torrey, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Davenport  Torrey,  by  whom  he  had  Samuel  Daven- 
port, who  d.s.p.;  William  Howard  (whose  portrait  by  Sorolla  is  No. 
33  in  this  collection),  born  1857;  Henry  Waters,  born  1859;  Horace 
Dutton,  born  1861;  and  Fanny  Louisa,  born  1865.  Mrs.  Alphonso 
Taft  died  1907. 

Judge  Alphonso  Taft,  after  the  resignation  of  General  Belknap  in 
March,  1876,  was  made  Secretary  of  War,  which  office  he  held  until 
the  May  following.  He  then  became  Attorney-General  under  Presi- 
dent U.  S.  Grant.  President  Arthur  appointed  him  successively  United 
States  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  Austria  and  two  years 
later  to  Russia. 

An  important  event  in  the  life  of  Alphonso  Taft  was  the  prepara- 
tion, and  delivery,  of  an  historical  address  in  1874  Uxbridge,  Mass., 
before  a  reunion  of  the  descendants  of  Robert  Taft. 

Munsell:  ''Index  to  American  Genealogies,"  1900,  p.  303. 

Mabel  T.  R.  Washburn:  ''The  Ancestry  of  William  Howard  Taft," 
1908. 

"The  Taft  Family  News,"  1910. 


JEAN  LOUIS  ERNEST  MEISSONIER 
French  School;  i8i^-i8gi 

MEISSONIER  began  life  in  a  garret  on  half  a  franc 
a  day.  A  man  of  eminent  sincerity  and  simple  char- 
acter, a  deeply  earnest  and  conscientious  worker,  he 
was  unsurpassed  in  the  elaborate  finish  of  all  the  minutiae  of 
his  subjects,  which  were  at  times  somewhat  trivial.  With  some 
exceptions,  his  pictures  have  no  thrilling  story  to  tell,  but  the 
minute  accuracy,  the  finished  drawing,  the  variety  of  char- 
acter in  his  men,  his  animals  and  his  accessories  produce  an 
absolute  verisimilitude  of  detail,  and  than  these  "there  are  no 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


more  sparkling  pictures  in  the  world."  Although  the  subject 
selected  is  not  always  very  thrilling  and  may  not  be  conceived 
as  an  organic  whole,  he  does  not  confound  the  literary  with  the 
picturesque.  If  he  does  not  invariably  show  himself  capable 
of  artistic  subordination  and  sacrifice  of  the  unessential,  and 
reveals  to  us  nothing  of  the  epic  vastness,  the  indefinable  but 
none  the  less  resfl  atmosphere  which  enwraps  the  compositions 
of  the  greatest  of  the  Old  Masters,  he  never  condescends 
to  mere  tricks  of  execution.  All  things  considered,  it  is  re- 
markable that  the  contemporary,  soul-moving  works  of  the 
Barbizon  School  should  have  made  absolutely  no  impression  on 
this  great  painter  of  historic  genre.  Classicists,  Romanticists, 
Symbolists,  Impressionists — all  were  nothing  to  him.  He  had 
chosen  his  life-task  for  himself,  and  when  necessary  he  would 
have  a  military  costume  copied  by  a  tailor  with  une  exactitude 
Chinoise,  that  thereby  he  might  render  it  in  terms  of  paint.  In 
spite  of  the  professional  success  he  attained  and  the  adulation 
he  received,  he  was  ever  a  severe  critic  of  his  own  work. 
Only  very  rarely  did  he  paint  a  woman:  men  alone  were  his 
inspiration.  Like  Andrea  del  Sarto,  according  to  Browning's 
estimate,  he  was  a  faultless  painter. 

No.  75    Les  Bons  Amis. 

Three  cavaliers  are  seated  in  the  centre  round  a  table  and 
smoking  clay  pipes ;  the  one  on  the  left  is  dressed  in  red,  the 
one  on  the  right  in  black,  and  the  third,  seated  between  them 
at  the  far  side  of  the  table,  in  yellowish  attire.  On  the  table 
are  glasses  and  a  flagon.  By  the  wall,  near  the  door,  in  the 
left  distance,  is  a  sideboard  with  bottles  on  it;  a  picture  hangs 
on  the  wall  above  it.  The  wall  on  the  right  is  panelled.  A 
tricorne  hat  is  on  a  chair,  against  which  stands  a  walking-stick. 

Canvas,  9  inches  by  10  inches.  (0.22x0.25) 

Signed,  and  dated  1867. 

This  example  is  illustrative  of  the  artist's  best  period;  it  has  been  en- 
graved by  Blanchard  and  etched  by  Jules  Jacquet. 


THE  DRAWING-ROOM 


Greard:  "Meissonier,"  1897,  p.  417,  gives  details  of  his  "Les  Trois 
Amis,"  which  is  undated,  measures  only  by  inches,  and  figured 
in  the  Thiery  Collection.  His  "Les  Bons  Fumeurs,"  painted  in  1857,  ^ 
panel  measuring  4^  inches  by  5  inches,  is  akin  in  style. 

Mrs.  A.  Bell:  ''Representative  Painters  of  the  XIX  Century,"  1899, 
p.  97. 


THE  LEFT  CORRIDOR 


SIR  LAURENCE  ALMA-TADEMA,  R.A.,  O.M. 

English  School;  i8s6-igi2 


OF  Dutch  parentage,  marrying  first  an  Italian  woman 
and  secondly  an  English,  he  became  a  naturalized 
Englishman,  with  the  consequent  change  of  his  first 
name,  Lourens,  to  Laurence.  An  exponent  of  the  life,  but  not 
the  passions,  of  antiquity,  he  painted  with  high  technical  skill 
the  material  things  of  the  ancients.  Marble  exerted  a  strange 
fascination  upon  him,  and  the  setting  of  some  of  his  subjects 
was  at  times  more  impressive  than  the  subjects  themselves.  In 
such  compositions  everything  is  treated  as  an  ohjet  de  luxe, 
while  he  accords  himself  the  liberty  of  anachronism.  His 
imagination  was  admittedly  constructive,  but  not  of  the  kind 
to  carry  him  or  us  into  the  higher  realms  of  poetic  insight. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  he  designed,  with  marked  success,  the 
stage  scenery  and  costumes  for  many  classical  and  theatrical 
productions.  A  painter  of  repose,  he  loved  flowers  and  music. 
His  painting  was  illusive  rather  than  emotional.  His  wife, 
who  predeceased  him,  was  also  a  painter. 

No.  76    A  World  of  Their  Own. 

A  young  man  and  a  young  woman,  in  classical  attire,  are 
lying  at  full  length  on  the  ground;  beyond  is  the  sea;  a  drapery 
is  spread  before  them,  and  a  staff,  surmounted  by  an  ivory 
figure  of  an  undraped  woman,  lies  near  them.  Flowers  are 
growing  in  the  field  beyond;  trees  in  the  left  distance. 

Canvas,  5  inches  by  iqJ^^  inches.  (0.12x0.49) 

Signed  and  enumerated :  "L.  Alma-Tadema.    Op.  CCCLXXVIII." 

As  the  artist  listed  and  numbered  each  of  his  productions,  the  number 
378  would  show  that  it  was  painted  about  1905. 

ni90 


THE  LEFT  CORRIDOR 


FRANK  DUVENECK 

American  School;  i8^8-igig 


RANK  DUVENECK  was  born  in  Covington,  Ken- 


tucky, across  the  Ohio  River  from  Cincinnati.   He  had 


-J^  painted,  modelled  and  carved  before  going,  in  1870,  to 
Munich  and  entering  the  Royal  Academy.  However,  "this 
blond,  vigorous,  and  single-hearted  young  giant  with  an  eye 
like  a  hawk,  fresh  from  a  new  world  and  conscious  of  his 
own  power,"  by  1873  returned  to  America  and  went  at  once 
to  Chicago.  Again  he  went  to  Europe,  and  in  1877  he  painted 
in  Munich  "The  Cobbler's  Apprentice."  The  Duveneck  Col- 
lection in  the  Cincinnati  Museum  comprises  about  one  hundred 
paintings,  besides  sculpture  and  etchings,  and  gives  a  complete 
account  of  his  personality.  His  style,  simple  and  direct,  is 
without  technical  tricks  for  effect,  without  persuasive  story 
subjects.  Of  literary  association  or  of  dogma  there  is  none. 
The  world  for  him  was  not  history,  not  imagination;  for  his 
compelling  interest  was  absorbed  in  the  normal  aspect  of  man 
and  nature. 

No.  77    The  Cobbler's  Apprentice. 

Three-quarter-length  figure  of  a  boy,  turned  three  quarters 
to  the  right.  He  holds  against  his  right  side  a  large  basket, 
while  he  puffs  out  of  his  mouth  the  smoke  of  a  cigar  held  in 
his  left  hand. 

Canvas,  38 J/2  inches  by  26^  inches.  (0.97  x  0.67) 

Art  and  Decoration,  191 1,  Vol.  I,  pp.  382-384,  "Duveneck:  a  Teacher 
of  Artists." 

Art  and  Progress,  September,  1915,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  386-394,  "Duveneck: 
Artist  and  Teacher." 


1:192:1 


THE  LEFT  CORRIDOR 


"This  striking  life-size  canvas,  in  subject  so  like  'The  Whistling  Boy,' 
is  yet  entirely  different.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  the  little  model 
for  the  earlier  work  had  black  hair,  while  this  one's  is  red,  the  dif- 
ference in  technique  is  self-evident.  While  in  'The  Whistling  Boy* 
young  Duveneck  centred  all  of  his  attention  upon  the  head,  con- 
veying planes  and  texture  with  remarkable  care  and  feeling,  this  can- 
vas is  a  more  broad  statement,  all  parts  of  it  being  boldly  and  swiftly 
expressed.  Certain  passages  in  it  make  one  think  of  Manet,  yet 
Duveneck  had  never  seen  any  of  the  French  master's  works  at  that 
time.  The  canvas,  painted  in  Munich,  was  originally  sold  there 
...  to  Mr.  von  Hessling,  the  American  Vice-Consul ;  was  for  a 
time  owned  by  Mr.  Josef  Stransky,  and  is  now  in  the  collection  of 
Mr.  Charles  P.  Taft.  In  May  of  that  same  year  (1877),  Duveneck 
and  Chase  left  for  Venice,  Duveneck  stopping  in  Innsbruck,  where 
he  painted  the  portrait  of  Susan  B.  Anthony." 

W.  Heermann:  "F.  Duveneck,"  1918,  p.  52. 

American  Art  News,  August  17,  191 8;  January  11,  19 19. 


JACOB  VAN  RUISDAEL 

Dutch  School;  16289-1682 

THE  early  works  of  this  foremost  landscape  painter  in 
the  school  of  Haarlem  are  simple  in  motive  and  care- 
ful in  elaboration,  while  the  shadows  are  opaque. 
After  settling  at  Amsterdam,  he  set  himself  to  render  scenes 
with  distant  views  and  winter  pictures.  At  the  same  time  a 
study  of  the  works  of  Everdingen,  who  had  explored  parts  of 
Norway,  led  him  to  render  the  grand  effects  of  water  falling 
in  torrent.  A  man  of  solitary  habits  of  life  and  somewhat  of 
a  mystic,  he  does  not  invariably  reach  the  same  high  level  of 
achievement.  But  as  a  painter  of  atmosphere  and  sky,  and  in 
the  management  of  light  and  shade,  he  is  entitled  to  rank  as 
one  of  the  most  profound  and  poetical  landscape  artists  of  his 
century.  His  influence  was  exerted  on  Hobbema,  and  survived 
to  inspire  many  later  artists. 

1:1933 


THE  LEFT  CORRIDOR 


No.  78    A  View  on  a  High  Road. 

A  woman,  with  a  basket  on  her  arm  and  leading  a  child  by 
the  hand,  is  walking  towards  a  pool  by  the  roadside;  in  its 
water  their  figures  and  some  of  the  houses  near  by  are  re- 
flected. A  quantity  of  hewn  stones  and  logs  lie  on  the  ground, 
at  the  foot  of  a  flight  of  steps  that  leads  up  to  a  house  in  the 
right  foreground.  Adjoining  this,  and  in  the  centre  of  the 
composition,  is  another  timbered  house  that  has  an  external 
porch.  More  to  the  left,  and  back  from  the  roadside,  is  a 
castle  standing  on  higher  ground.  Other  buildings  and  a 
windmill  in  the  distance.   A  tall  tree  in  the  left  foreground. 

Canvas,  22  inches  by  26  inches.  (0.55  xo.66) 

Signed  in  full  on  the  left. 

In  the  collection  of  General  Verdier,  18 16. 

In  the  collection  of  the  Right  Hon.  Alexander  Baring,  1835;  and  sub- 
sequently in  that  of  the  Earl  of  Ashburton. 

Exhibited,  on  loan,  in  New  York,  191 4,  No.  8. 

Smith:  "Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1835,  Vol.  VI,  p.  48,  No.  154,  says 
that  "this  excellently  painted  picture  has  become  a  little  too  dark." 

Hofstede  de  Groot:  "Smith's  Catalogue  Raisonne,"  1912,  Vol.  IV, 
p.  254,  No.  811. 

HENRY  F.  FARNY 

American  School;  i8^y-igi6 

BORN  at  Ribeauville  in  Alsace,  he  in  time  became  a  pupil 
of  Munkacsy  in  Diisseldorf  and  of  Wilhelm  von  Diez, 
one  of  Duveneck^s  masters,  in  Munich.  He  worked 
long  as  an  illustrator  for  Harper's,  but  later  became  known 
for  his  paintings  of  Indians  and  Western  life. 

[194] 


THE  LEFT  CORRIDOR 


No.  79    The  Song  of  the  Talking  Wire. 

A  winter  landscape.  An  Indian,  seen  in  full  face  and  wear- 
ing the  garb  and  long  robe  of  his  tribe,  is  leaning  against  a 
telegraph  pole  in  the  foreground.  Further  back,  on  the  right, 
stand  his  two  horses,  from  the  saddle  of  one  of  which  is  slung 
the  carcass  of  a  deer.  Half  embedded  in  the  snow,  to  the  left, 
are  the  decaying  skull  and  horns  of  an  ox.    Cloudy  sky. 

Canvas,  2iJ^  by  39>^  inches.  (0.54X  i.oo) 

Signed,  and  dated  1904,  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 


1:195: 


THE  BACK  CORRIDOR 


RICARDO  DE  MADRAZO 

Spanish  School;  Contemporary 


RICARDO  DE  MADRAZO  is  the  younger  son  of  Fed- 
erico,  and  so  the  brother  of  Raimundo  de  Madrazo, 
^  whose  art  may  be  studied  in  this  collection. 

No.  80    A  Courtyard  in  Toledo. 

A  scene  in  a  patio,  or  inner  courtyard,  of  a  house  in  Toledo, 
Spain,  where  the  influence  of  the  Orient  is  unmistakable.  In 
the  right  foreground  is  a  fountain  set  round  with  a  border  of 
tiles,  on  which  pots  of  flowers  are  set.  A  profusion  of  flowers 
in  the  centre.  Two  doves  on  the  ground  near  an  arm-chair, 
above  which  hangs  a  bird-cage.  A  serving-maid,  with  a  tray, 
is  passing  down  a  corridor  in  the  background.  A  man  of  high 
rank  is  looking  through  the  reja,  or  iron  grating,  of  a  window 
on  the  right. 

Canvas,  19  inches  by  23^  inches.  (0.48x0.59) 

Signed  and  dated,  in  the  left  bottom  corner:  ''Ricardo  de  Madrazo, 
Toledo,  191 1." 

HARRINGTON  MANN 
English  School;  Contemporary 

HARRINGTON  MANN,  born  at  Glasgow  in  1864 
received  his  art  education  there,  in  London  and  in 
Paris.  He  fii-st  attracted  attention  by  carefully  elab- 
orated renderings  of  scenes  in  Yorkshire  fishing  villages,  and 
by  realistic  studies  of  Italian  peasants.  He  is  now  best  known 
as  a  painter  of  portraits,  which  are  designed  in  simple  masses 


THE  BACK  CORRIDOR 


and  drawn  with  remarkable  facility  and  a  fine  dashing  bra- 
vura. He  has  worked  eight  winters  in  this  country.  Exhibi- 
tions of  his  works  were  held  in  the  Albright  Art  Gallery, 
Buffalo,  in  March,  19 14,  and  at  the  St.  Louis  Art  Gallery  in 
April,  19 16. 

No.  81    Portrait  of  Charles  Frederick  Fowles. 

Bust  length,  turned  to  the  left.  In  black  morning  coat.  The 
black  beard  turning  gray.   Dark  background. 

Canvas,  29  inches  by  24^  inches.  (0.73  xo.62) 

Signed,  and  dated  191 5,  in  the  left  bottom  corner. 

Charles  Frederick  Fowles  Avas  born  November  15,  1867,  in  Hereford- 
shire; he  was  the  son  of  Edward  and  Emily  Susan  Fowles.  He  came 
to  this  country  about  1 899. 

He  perished,  together  with  his  wife,  on  the  Cunard  steamship  Lusitania, 
May,  1915. 

"The  Lusitania  sails  undisturbed  by  German  warning.  Off  with  her 
passenger  list  of  1388  undiminished.    No  bookings  cancelled." 

New  York  Times  J  May  2,  1915. 

"Never  since  that  April  day,  three  years  ago,  when  word  came  that  the 
Titanic  had  gone  down,  has  Washington  been  so  stirred  as  it  is 
to-night  over  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania/' 

New  York  Times,  May  8,  1915. 

J.  L.  Caw:  ''Scottish  Painting,"  1908,  p.  431. 

New  York  Times,  June  27,  19 19. 

The  clearness  of  Mr.  Fowles's  vision  in  realizing  the  aim  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Taft  to  form  so  important  and  well  selected  a  collection,  and  the 
friendship  that  resulted  from  his  devotion  to  the  task,  need  not  be 
insisted  upon  here :  it  is  apparent  to  the  merest  tyro  who  may  pay  a  visit 
to  the  house  in  Pike  Street.  The  circumstances  under  which,  when  his 
work  was  done,  Mr.  Fowles  met  a  tragic  death  caused  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Taft  to  secure  a  portrait  of  him.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  canvas 
before  us  is  a  posthumous  one. 

[200;] 


THE  BACK  CORRIDOR 


Mr.  Harrington  Mann  had  known  Mr.  Fowles  only  slightly;  and 
immediately  he  was  invited  by  Mr.  Taft  to  convey  to  canvas  his  per- 
sonal impressions,  he  was  faced  by  a  difficulty:  for  only  an  old  and 
retouched  photograph  was  available  to  guide  the  artist.  More  clearly 
to  visualize  the  man,  if  that  were  possible,  the  expedient  was  tried  of 
asking  a  mutual  friend,  of  somewhat  similar  build  and  appearance,  to 
pose  for  the  picture.  Of  the  successful  issue  of  the  undertaking,  those 
who  knew  Mr.  Fowles  intimately  are  in  the  best  position  to  judge. 
Others  can  only  remark  with  praise  on  the  high  technical  accomplish- 
ment. 


No.  82  Rotterdam. 

The  waters  of  the  canal  in  the  foreground;  sailing-vessels 
and  barges  moored  to  the  quay  on  the  right.  In  mid-stream  a 
man  is  rowing  his  boat  towards  an  arched  bridge  in  the  back- 
ground. In  the  distance  are  the  roofs  of  houses  which  cluster 
round  a  church  with  a  massive  tower.  Trees  on  the  right. 
Birds  in  the  cloudy  sky. 

Canvas,  37  inches  by  43  inches.  (0.93  x  1.09) 

Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 


American  School;  ij^i-iSz^j 
O  Charles  Willson  Peale,  the  Doyen  of  American 


Painters,  was  accorded  the  distinguished  honour  of 


painting  Washington  from  life  more  often  than  any 
one  of  his  contemporaries.  He  began  in  May,  1772,  with  the 
Virginia  Colonel,  and  ended  in  September,  1795,  with  the  first 
President  of  the  United  States.    Peale's  position  as  a  portrait 


JACOB  MARIS 

Dutch  School;  iS^j-iSgg 


CHARLES  WILLSON  PEALE 


[2013 


THE  BACK  CORRIDOR 


painter  is  very  much  underestimated  on  account  of  the  multi- 
tude of  inferior  heads  which  he  put  into  frames  for  his  museum 
gallery,  and  by  which  he  is  chiefly  known.  His  portraits  are 
real,  if  they  are  somewhat  hard,  and  his  likenesses  are  always 
true.  Peak's  nephew,  Charles  Peale  Polk,  was  an  industrious 
manufacturer  of  Washington  portraits. 

No.  83    Portrait  of  George  Washington. 

Bust  length,  turned  three  quarters  to  the  left.  In  black 
morning  dress,  white  stock  and  cravat;  clean  shaven;  gray 
hair.    Dark  background. 

Canvas,  29^^  inches  by  24^  inches.  (0.74x0.67) 

Purchased  at  the  sale  of  the  effects  of  Colonel  John  Custis  Wilson,  of 
Somerset  County,  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland  (who  married  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Tilghman,  daughter  of  Colonel  Peregrine  Tilghman),  by  General 
Tench  Tilghman  when  a  cadet  at  the  United  States  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point,  in  1830,  and  while  home  on  furlough. 

Inherited  in  1874  by  Oswald  Tilghman,  son  of  General  Tench  Tilgh- 
man. 

Miss  Mary  Jane  Wilson,  granddaughter  of  the  painter,  in  1898  wrote 
and  quoted  from  the  painter's  diary: 

"I  sold  Mr.  Wilson  a  portrait  of  Washington,  half  length,  in  a 

black  velvet  coat,  with  a  dimple  in  the  cheek  from  an  abscess  caused 

by  a  decayed  tooth." 

She  pointed  out  at  the  same  time  that  a  number  of  similar  ones  were 
painted,  and  that  she  could  not,  therefore,  tell  whether  this  was  "the 
original." 

So  far  as  one  may  trust  one's  memory,  this  portrait  is  almost  exactly 
like  that  (No.  B  299)  owned  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
which,  as  the  records  of  the  Society  show,  was  painted  in  1795  and  was 
bought  at  the  sale  of  the  Peale  Gallery  in  Philadelphia  about  1828. 
Perhaps  there  is  some  diiference  in  the  rendering  of  the  dimple  in  the 
two  canvases.  In  the  New  York  one  the  corners  of  the  canvas,  as 
framed,  seem  to  be  rounded.    Yet  the  Cincinnati  version  is  certainly 


THE  BACK  CORRIDOR 

not  a  copy  of  the  other.  Photographs  of  the  two  pictures  are  not  avail- 
able for  our  comparison. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Bryant  Johnston  in  her  book  on  "Original  Portraits  of 
Washington,"  1882,  records  (p.  14)  some  of  the  above  facts. 

Charles  H.  Hart:  "Catalogue  of  Engraved  Portraits  of  G.  Washing- 
ton," 1904,  p.  33. 

Charles  H.  Hart:  "Peale's  Original  Whole-length  Portrait  of  Wash- 
ington," 1897. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


i 


t 

JOSEPH  MALLORD  WILLIAM  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-iS^i 

No.  84  Folkestone. 

Looking  eastward  from  the  Lees,  with  Sandgate  behind. 
In  the  left  foreground  smugglers  are  busy  burying  kegs  of  gin 
at  the  top  of  the  cliff.  Beyond,  the  cliffs  recede.  In  the  middle 
distance  are  houses  clustering  round  the  church  tower.  Under 
the  cliffs  is  a  busy  scene  with  much  shipping  in  the  harbour. 
The  blue  sea  bathes  the  feet  of  the  white  chalk  cliffs,  as  they 
jut  out  into  the  distance. 

Like  all  the  works  by  this  artist  hung  in  this  room,  this  is  in  water- 
colour,  6  inches  by  gj4  inches.  (0.15  xo.24) 

Painted  in  1823. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Ruskin,  who  gave  it  to  Sir  J.  Simeon.  It 
was  subsequently  purchased  from  the  family  of  the  latter. 

Engraved,  in  1825,  by  R.  Wallis  for  the  South  Coast  Series. 

Details  of  engravings  of  this  subject  by  R.  Wallis  and  by  T.  Lupton  are 
given  by  H.  G.  Rawlinson:  "Engraved  Work  of  Turner,"  1908,  Vol.  I, 
p.  66;  and  Vol.  II,  p.  384. 

Sir  Walter  Armstrong:  "Turner,"  1902,  p.  254,  mentions  this  as  well 
as  two  other  water-colours  of  this  subject  by  Turner: 

{a)  "Folkestone:  Twilight,  Smugglers  fishing  up  Gin."  Signed 
and  dated  1824.  From  the  Nettlefold,  Hollins,  Leech  and  Hip- 
pisley  Collections.   Engraved  by  T.  Lupton. 

(b)  "Folkestone."  Circa  1829-1831.  From  the  E.  F.  White 
and  Humphrey  Roberts  Collections.  Engraved  by  J.  Horsburgh: 
"England  and  Wales,"  1831. 

Exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1887,  No.  66. 

1:207: 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


WILLIAM  MERRITT  CHASE,  N.A. 

American  School;  iS^g-igiO 

INDIANA  was  the  home  State  of  the  enlightened  student 
who,  regarded  as  a  "radical"  artist  at  a  time  when  Amer- 
ica hungered  for  art  but  did  not  know  its  meaning,  early 
went  to  study  in  Munich.  There  he  had  as  his  fellow  student 
Frank  Duveneck,  whose  portrait  he  painted.  Returned  from 
Munich  in  1877,  Chase  kept  on  repeating  to  the  end:  "Wake 
up,  America  !"  He  was,  therefore,  regarded  by  many  as  a  "stu- 
dent adventurer"  whose  "foreign  ideas"  should  be  resisted! 
Instead  of  residing  in  Europe,  where  Whistler  had  nicknamed 
him  "the  Colonel,"  he  preferred  to  serve  his  country  at  home. 
Eventually  he  received  in  Europe  and  at  home  the  usual  hon- 
ours of  his  profession.  That  profession  he  regarded  as  "the 
greatest  in  the  world";  and  by  invitation,  in  1908,  he  painted 
his  own  portrait  for  the  gallery  of  distinguished  artists  in  the 
Uffizi  at  Florence.  Although  he  painted  everything,  he  is  by 
many  best  known  for  his  representations  of  shiny,  slippery  fish 
and  still  life.  He  frankly  admitted  that  he  had  "at  one  time 
made  the  error  of  thinking  that  critics  were  a  mistake."  Later 
he  realized  that  "one  can  enjoy  a  dish  without  knowing  how 
to  cook  it."  Perhaps  his  influence  on  the  art  of  America  was 
more  potent  through  his  teaching  than  through  his  painting. 
In  any  event,  he  ever  advocated  the  beauty  of  the  painted 
canvas,  and  his  ideal  was  that  of  work  well  done. 

No.  85    The  Ponte  Vecchio,  Florence. 

A  view  of  the  bridge,  looking  down  stream  from  the  left 
bank.  The  arcade  of  the  Uffizi  is  barely  seen  in  the  extreme 
right  foreground. 

Canvas,  8>4  inches  by  12  inches.  (0.20x0.30) 
Acquired  in  1908. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-iS^i 

No.  86    Johnnie  Armstrong's  Tower,  Gilnockie. 

A  wide  view  looking  across  the  river  Esk,  with  the  bridge 
in  the  foreground  and  a  coach  passing  over  it  towards  the  left. 
Beyond,  the  border  tower  stands  on  the  shoulder  of  a  prom- 
ontory that  looks  down  upon  the  stream. 

Water-colour  (vignette),  io%  inches  by  8  inches.  (0.27x0.20) 
Painted  about  1 830-1 832. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Munro,  of  Novar,  and  in  that  of  Lady 
Ashburton. 

Exhibited  at  Messrs.  Moon,  Boys  and  Graves'  Gallery  in  1833. 

Engraved  (3%  inches  by  4  inches)  by  E.  Goodall  for  Scott's  ^'Min- 
strelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border." 

W.  G.  Rawlinson:  "The  Engraved  Work  of  Turner,"  1913,  Vol.  II, 
p.  278,  No.  496. 

'The  water-colour  drawings  belonging  to  the  collection  of  the  late 
Mr.  H.  A.  J.  Munro,  of  Novar,  which  are  to  be  sold  to-morrow  by 
Messrs.  Christie,  Manson,  and  Woods,  form  an  exhibition  of 
Turner's  works  in  water-colour,  particularly  of  his  vignette  draw- 
ings, which  is  specially  interesting.  There  are  twenty-one  of  the 
larger  drawings,  all  good  examples  of  his  earlier  and  middle  styles, 
the  rest  of  the  fifty-five  forming  the  sale  being  nearly  all  vignettes. 
Such  a  display  of  Turner's  fine  imaginative  faculty,  and  his  amazing 
power  of  concentrating  beauty  of  form  and  colour,  and  giving  the 
essence  of  a  scene  in  the  small  space  of  a  vignette,  has  rarely,  if 
ever,  been  seen  before.  The  well-known  engravings  from  these,  it 
is  true,  render  their  beauties  with  admirable  effect,  so  far  as  black 
and  white  can  go  in  interpreting  Turner's  visions  of  light  and  colour, 
but  they  are,  after  all,  but  like  paste  copies  of  these  brilliant  gems. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 

In  this  case  the  drawings  happen  to  be  in  a  remarkably  pure  and  fine 
condition,  from  having  been  kept  in  the  portfolio  from  the  time  they 
were  painted.  There  are,  besides,  sixteen  engraved  drawings  of  the 
England  and  W ales  series,  the  vignettes  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  works, 
those  for  Milton's  poetical  works.  .  .  ." 

The  Times,  London,  June  i,  1877,  quoted  by  Redford:  "Art 
Sales,"  1888,  Vol.  I,  p.  262. 

*'The  Turner  drawings  and  vignettes  of  the  Novar  Collection,  so  called 
from  the  name  of  the  late  Mr.  Munro's  seat  in  Scotland,  more  than 
realized  the  anticipations  formed  during  the  exhibition  of  them,  and 
the  sale  on  Saturday  proved  to  be  the  most  spirited  and  interesting 
one  of  the  season.  The  large  room  was  very  full,  and  the  biddings 
came  quick  from  every  side,  so  many  being  anxious  to  possess  at  least 
one  of  the  magic  little  vignettes ;  but  the  race  for  all  the  great  prizes 
was  between  Mr.  Agnew,  Mr.  Wallis,  Mr.  Vokins,  and  the  agent 
of  a  lady  of  distinction  [Lady  Ashburton],  who  proved  to  be  a 
rather  formidable  competitor,  and  did,  in  fact,  carry  off  the  'Johnnie 
Armstrong's  Tower'  vignette,  the  charming  little  drawing  of  'Win- 
chelsea'  and  'The  Rhigi,'  at  prices  which  seemed  quite  to  astonish 
the  trade.  Nothing  like  such  prices  have  been  obtained  before  for 
vignette  drawings,  which  made  this  collection  so  remarkable.  It  was 
said  before  the  sale  that  probably  the  best  would  bring  from  two  to 
three  hundred  guineas,  but  the  first  one  put  up  went  for  over  two 
hundred,  and  the  next,  which  was  'Johnnie  Armstrong's  Tower,* 
went  for  £399.  ...  Mr.  Woods,  in  opening  the  sale,  reminded 
his  audience  that  the  late  Mr.  Munro  was  the  intimate  friend  and 
executor  of  Turner,  and  one  of  the  few  ever  admitted  to  see  him  at 
work  in  his  studios.  He  purchased  these  drawings  many  years  ago 
and  kept  them  carefully  in  portfolios,  which  accounted  for  the  per- 
fect state  in  w^hich  they  were  preserved." 

The  Times,  London,  June  4,  1877,  quoted  by  Redford,  I,  263. 

Armstrong:  "Turner,"  1902,  p.  259. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-iS^i 

No.  87    The  Lake  of  Brienz:  Ringgenberg  Castle. 

Many  figures  in  gay  attire  are  aboard  the  ferry-boats  which, 
in  the  left  foreground,  are  crossing  the  lake  towards  the  left. 
In  the  left  distance  are  mountains.  A  chalet  in  the  right  dis- 
tance, with  a  ruined  castle  on  the  heights  above. 

Water-colour,  10^  inches  by  15^  inches.  (0.27x0.43) 

Signed  and  dated  in  the  right  bottom  corner:  "J.  M.W.Turner,  R.A. 
P.P.  1809." 

In  the  possession  of  Messrs.  Agnew  about  1850,  and  subsequently  in 
that  of  T.  S.  Kennedy,  of  Park  Hill,  Wetherby,  Yorks,  who  sold  it  at 
Christie's,  May  18,  1895,  No.  92. 

Armstrong:  'Turner,"  1902,  p.  244,  where  it  is  said  that  the  colours 
are  ''predominant  green  and  gold,  broadly  treated." 

This  is  a  form  of  signature  used  with  considerable  pride  by  Turner 
between  1807  and  1837,  the  period  in  which  he  was  Professor  of  Per- 
spective (which  the  "P.P."  signifies)  to  the  Royal  Academy. 

The  oil  painting  of  "Grouse  Shooting"  in  the  Wallace  Collection,  Lon- 
don (No.  664),  is  fully  signed,  like  the  present  water-colour. 

A  letter  from  Walter  Fawkes  in  18 19  to  the  painter,  and  addressed 
"To  J.  M.  W.  Turner,  Esq.,  R.A.,  P.P.,"  is  quoted  at  length  in  the 
Magazine  of  Art,  1 887,  Vol.  X,  p.  298. 

Turner  painted  another  water-colour  of  "The  Lake  of  Brienz:  Moon- 
light," circa  1805-10,  which  he  signed:  "J.  M.  W.  Turner,  R.A."  In 
it  the  "full  moon  is  rising  among  misty  clouds  over  mountains  at  the  head 
of  a  calm  lake.  The  towers  of  Ringgenberg  to  the  left,"  according  to 
Sir  Walter  Armstrong's  short  description.  It  was  exhibited  at  Mr. 
Walter  Fawkes'  house  in  Grosvenor  Place,  London,  18 19.    Lent  from 


^ 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


the  collection  of  F.  H.  Fawkes,  of  Farnley,  to  the  Grafton  Galleries, 
London,  191 1,  No.  210. 

J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  I'/y^-iS^i 

No.  88  Thun. 

Women  and  children  in  bright  costumes  are  seated  on  a 
terrace  which,  towards  the  right,  looks  down  upon  the  town 
below.  In  the  distance,  across  the  plain,  are  other  buildings, 
and  on  the  far  side  of  the  misty  lake  the  high,  rocky  mountains 
disappear  among  the  clouds. 

Water-colour,  14%  inches  by  21^  inches.  (0.41x0.54) 
Painted  about  1842. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  General  Rawdon;  subsequently  in  that  of 
William  Quilter,  of  Norwood,  London,  who  exhibited  it  at  Leeds, 
1868,  No.  2064;  at  the  Old  Water  Colour  Society,  1870,  No.  227;  at 
the  Loan  Exhibition  in  1871 ;  and  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1873,  No. 
377.  It  was  put  up  at  auction  in  his  sale  at  Christie's,  April  9,  1875, 
No.  227,  and  bought  in. 

In  the  Quilter  sale  at  Christie's,  May  18,  1889,  No.  97. 

In  the  collection  of  Joseph  Ruston,  of  Monks  Manor,  Lincoln ;  but  not 
in  his  sale  in  May,  1898,  or  June  21,  19 12. 

Redford:  "Art  Sales,"  1888,  Vol.  II,  p.  180. 

Armstrong:  "Turner,"  1902,  p.  280,  mentions  this  magnificent  and  late 
drawing,  pointing  out  that  there  is  "much  yellow"  in  it.  He  "lists" 
seven  other  water-colours  of  the  same  subject  and  authorship: 

{a)  In  the  National  Gallery  of  Scotland.  "The  white  town  is 
reflected  in  the  calm  river.  Blue  mountains  to  the  right.  Gray 
cloudy  sky.    Red  pen  outlines." 

{b)  Formerly  in  the  John  Edward  Taylor  Collection,  London. 
Exhibited  at  the  Guildhall,  1899  (No.  139),  9  inches  by  ii^^ 

[212] 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


inches.  .  .  .  Painted  about  1838.  "Highly  finished  sketch.  Deli- 
cate mist."   Sold  at  Christie's,  July  5,  191 2,  No.  71. 

(c)  Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Ruskin.  Probably  1802.  "A 
thunder-storm  over  the  lake.  Niessen  in  the  centre,  heavy  and  dark. 
Stockhorn  in  light  in  the  distance." 

(d)  In  the  F.  H.  Fawkes  Collection  at  Farnley.  Liber  No.  3. 
"Stormy  Lake.  Figures  w^ith  carts  and  bales  on  the  shore  to  the 
right  in  the  sunshine.  Lightning  from  black  cloud  in  centre  sky  over 
mountains."   Exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1906,  No.  207. 

(e)  In  the  collection  of  Miss  Julia  Swinburne.  Signed:  "J.  M. 
W.  Turner,  R.  A.,  1809."  Exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1887, 
No.  47. 


Apparently  there  must  be  added  to  the  above  drawings  of  "Thun"  that 
illustrated  in  Sedelmeyer's  "Catalogue"  of  1895,  No.  98.  It  is  therein 
described  as  "an  early  work,"  measuring  27^  inches  by  35^  inches, 
and  as  having  been  "bought  from  Mrs.  Dalton,  widow  of  a  friend  of 
Turner's.  Mr.  Dalton  held  it  direct  from  Turner."  It  was  included 
in  the  sale  of  the  Ortgies  Gallery  in  New  York,  April  14,  1898  (No.  8). 
It  also  was  in  the  Sedelmeyer  sale  in  Paris,  May  16-18,  1907,  No.  161 
(0.70  X  0.90). 

Graves:  "Century  of  Loan  Exhibitions,"  1914,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  1335  and 


This  is  the  last  picture  bought  from  Mr.  Fowles  by  Mr.  Taft. 


No.  89    Chamonix:  Mer  de  Gl^vce,  and  Source  of  the 
Arveyron. 

A  goatherd,  with  his  flock,  is  near  the  lightning-struck  and 
withered  larches  on  a  rocky  ledge.  The  river  flows  through 
the  valley  on  the  left  below.  Blue  sky  on  the  left,  with  a  storm 
approaching  over  the  snow-clad  mountains  on  the  right. 


1347. 


J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-iS^i 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


Water-colour,  lO^  inches  by  I3j4  inches.  (0.27x0.34) 

Painted,  about  1807,  for  Mr.  Fawkes,  of  Farnley,  an  intimate  friend 
of  the  artist. 

Included  in  the  sale  of  a  number  of  Turner  drawings  from  the  Fawkes 
Collection  held  at  Christie's,  June  27,  1890,  No.  47,  as  the  "Valley  of 
Chamouni"  (iij4  inches  by  13^  inches).  (Armstrong,  No.  7.) 
"Goats  feeding  by  shattered  pines  in  the  foreground,  behind  which  a 
long  line  of  glacier  creeps  down  from  the  right  to  the  left.  Wind- 
swept cumulus  clouds."  Humphrey  Roberts  Collection,  but  not  in  the 
sale  of  May,  1908. 

Armstrong,  pp.  245-246,  also  lists  the  following  Turner  drawings  of 
Chamonix  and  its  immediate  vicinity: 

(a)  Chamonix.   Circa  1793.   Ex  Herbert  Horne  Collection. 

(b)  Glacier  des  Bossons.  1802.  From  the  Ruskin  and  Sir  Hich- 
man  Bacon  Collections. 

(c)  Glacier  des  Bossons.  1805-18 10.  From  the  Levy  and 
Greenwood  Collections. 

(d)  Mer  de  Glace  and  Source  of  the  Arveyron.  1803.  From 
the  Fawkes  Collection.  (27  inches  by  40  inches.)  The  valley  far 
below  on  the  left ;  a  snake  in  the  centre  foreground. 

(e)  Chamonix:  looking  down  the  Valley.  1805-18 10.  Signed 
J.  M.  W.  Turner,  R.A.,  1809  (the  last  figure  uncertain).  (11 
inches  by  15^  inches.) 

(/)  Chamonix:  Blair's  Hut  on  the  Montanvert  and  Mer  de 
Glace.  Circa  1805-1809.  (11  inches  by  15  inches.)  F.  H. 
Fawkes. 

(ff)  Chamonix:  Source  of  the  Arveyron.  1805-18 10.  Signed 
"J.  M.  W.  Turner,  R.A."  Farnley  Collection  and  sale,  June  27, 
1890,  No.  49.  (11  inches  by  15^^  inches.)  Turner  House,  Pen- 
arth.    Liber  Studiorunij  No.  60. 

Possibly  to  be  identified  with  one  or  other  of  the  "Mer  de  Glace, 
Chamouni,"  exhibited  at  Leeds,  1839,  No.  60  and  No.  65.  (See  Bell: 
"Exhibited  Works  of  Turner,"  pp.  1 70-1 71.) 

"When  Turner  went  to  the  Continent  for  the  first  time,  he  visited 
Chamouni,  and  being  full  of  ardent  power  and  youth,  was  able  to 
record  at  first  with  exultation,  and  afterwards  with  awe  and 

[2143 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 

exultation,  the  impressions  he  received  from  the  solemn,  desolate  and 
majestic  beauty  of  the  valley.  No  one  has  adequately  painted  this 
terrible  loveliness,  and  it  was  only  genius  like  Turner's  that  could 
understand  or  partly  succeed  in  expressing  the  lonely  life,  the 
destroying  force  that  dv^^elt  in  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Alps;  only 
youth  that  could  have  enough  audacity  not  to  be  daunted  by  their 
vastness,  and  enough  ardour  not  to  be  overwhelmed  by  their  primae- 
val strength  and  terror.  ...  He  never  drew  the  higher  Alps  so  well 
again.  Nor  was  he  often  in  the  mood  to  care  to  draw  them.  They 
were  too  inhuman  for  him,  and  when  he  painted  Nature  wholly  for 
her  own  sake,  he  preferred  the  Highland  glen  or  the  Yorkshire 
glade  to  the  Mer  de  Glace  or  the  summit  of  the  St.  Bernard.  .  .  . 
Indeed,  his  imagination  saw  through  fact  into  the  heart  of  the 
universe." 

Stopford  Brooke:  "Notes  on  the  Liber  Studiorum/^  1885,  pp. 
202-205. 


J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-lS^l 
No.  90    Jedburgh  Abbey. 

The  river  in  the  immediate  foreground,  with  women  drying 
clothes  on  the  bank  on  the  right.  The  river  winds  in  the  dis- 
tance to  the  right  as  it  passes  the  white  houses  on  the  further 
bank,  with  the  abbey  towering  above.    Blue  sky. 

Water-colour,  3^  inches  by  5^  inches.  (0.08x0.13) 

Painted  in  1831. 

In  the  Quilter  Collection. 

In  the  collection  of  John  J^eetham,  at  Oakfields,  Weybridge,  and  sold  at 
Christie's,  May  27,  1895,  No.  iii. 

Exhibited  at  Moon,  Boys  and  Graves'  Gallery  in  1833. 

Exhibited  at  Agnew's  Galleries,  February,  1904. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 

Engraved  by  R.  Brandard,  1833,  for  Scott's  "Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish 
Border." 

The  Ti?neSj  London,  February  13,  1904. 
The  Athenaunij  February  20,  1904. 
Armstrong:  "Turner,"  p.  259. 

W.  G.  Rawlinson:  "Engraved  Work  of  Turner,"  191 3,  Vol.  II,  p.  278. 

HENRY  F.  FARNY 
American  School;  i8^J-igi6 

No.  91    The  Hill  behind  the  School-house. 

A  high  road  in  winter  with  boys  sledding  down  from  the 
school-house,  and  other  buildings  at  a  bend  in  the  road  in  the 
distance,  towards  the  foreground. 

Canvas,  16  inches  by  27  inches.  (0.40x0.68) 
Signed  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 

HENRY  F.  FARNY 
American  School;  i8^J-igi6 

No.  92    "The  Apaches  are  Out  !" 

An  Indian,  in  tribal  attire,  rides  his  horse  towards  the  front. 
He  is  followed  down  a  defile  by  other  mounted  Indians,  each 
of  whom  has  his  gun.  High  rocks  tower  above  them  in  the 
background. 

Canvas,  20j^  inches  by  13  inches.  (0.52x0.33) 
Signed,  and  dated  1890  in  the  right  bottom  corner. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  I'/j^-iS^i 
No.  93    The  Lake  of  Nemi. 

Peasant  women,  wearing  gay  costumes,  are  grouped  in  vari- 
ous postures  in  the  foreground  near  classical  ruins.  A  tall 
stone-pine  is  on  the  right,  on  the  high  bank  that  overlooks  the 
deep  blue  round  lake,  in  the  clear  waters  of  which  the  scene 
is  reflected. 

Water-colour  (a  large  vignette),  9^  inches  by  6^  inches. 

(0.24  X  0.17) 

Painted  about  1830. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Edward  Fordham,  and  sold  at  Christie's 
in  1904. 

Engraved  by  E.  Goodall. 

W.  G.  Rawlinson:  "Engraved  Work  of  Turner,"  Vol.  II,  p.  325. 

Mentioned  in  Armstrong:  'Turner,"  1902,  p.  267,  where  it  is  shown 

that  four  other  renderings  of  "Lake  Nemi"  or  "The  Lake  of  Nemi"  are 

recorded.    They  are: 

{a)  Formerly  in  the  Ruskin,  Dillon  (1869),  B.  G.  Windus 
(1878)  and  C.  Morland  Agnew  Collections.    Exhibited  at  the 

,  Guildhall,  1899,  No.  iii.  Circa  1818.  (5>^  inches  by  8^  inches.) 
Engraved  by  J.  Pj^e  and  Middiman  for  Hakewill's  "Picture  Tour 
of  Italy."  Thornbury:  "Turner,"  Vol.  II,  p.  358.  "Looking 
down  over  the  calm  crater  lake  with  reflections;  wide  view  over  the 
Campagna  beyond.  Goats  gambolling."  Illustrated  in  "The  Water- 
Colours  of  Turner,"  published  by  the  International  Studio,  1909, 
plate  II.    Bell:  "Exhibited  Works  of  Turner,"  p.  167. 

{b)  Formerly  in  the  Ruskin,  Windus,  J.  E.  Fordham  and  Sir 
John  Fowler  Collections.  Exhibited  at  the  Burlington  Club,  1871, 
No.  116,  and  at  the  Royal  Academy,  1889,  No.  21,  as  "painted  about 
1842."   Sold  at  Christie's,  May  6,  1898,  No.  29,  as  of  1842.  (13^ 

1:2173 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 

inches  by  20ji  inches.)  Signed  "J.  W.  T.,"  and  on  William  Cooke's 
engraving:  "J.  M.  W.  T.  1840."  "Crater  lake  surrounded  by 
wooded  hills,  a  tower  in  evening  light  on  the  hill  to  the  right. 
Figures  on  the  right,  two  peasant  women  sitting  by  sculptured  stones. 
On  the  left,  by  a  lake,  a  girl  with  goats.  Sunset  with  haze  on  the 
mountains."    Engraved  by  R.  Wallis,  1842. 

(c)  In  the  collection  of  Mrs.  Williams.  Circa  iS 40.  (14  inches 
by  21  inches.)  Unfinished.  "Deep  blue  circular  lake  in  the  centre. 
Half  moon  in  late  evening  sky  above.  Cattle  and  trees  in  front 
slightly  indicated." 

(d)  Formerly  in  the  J.  Heugh  Collection,  sold  in  1874,  and  in 
the  Knowles  Collection.    (16^  inches  by  22  inches.) 

Corot  painted  a  "Souvenir  du  lac  de  Nemi,"  formerly  in  the  Breysse 
Collection,  and  shown  in  the  Exposition  de  I'CEuvre  de  Corot,  1875, 
No.  52. 

J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School;  lyy^-iS^i 

No.  94    St.  Michael's  Mount. 

A  ship  breaking  up  in  the  trough  of  the  storm-swept  sea  in 
the  right  foreground,  with  sailors  hanging  on  to  the  rigging 
and  to  the  crow's  nest.  Church  high  on  a  rock  above  the 
stormy  sea.   Lycidas  drowning  in  front.   A  fantastic  creation. 

Water-colour  (a  vignette),  7j^  inches  by  53>2  inches.  (0.19x0.13) 

Painted  circa  1 830-1 835. 

Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Munro,  of  Novar,  and  sold  at  Christie's, 
1877. 

In  the  collection  of  George  Gurney,  who  exhibited  it  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  1892,  No.  59,  as  "St.  Michael's  Mount  (Lycidas)." 

Exhibited  at  Agnew's  Galleries  in  February,  1904. 

Engraved  by  W.  Miller  for  Milton's  "Poems." 

Rawlinson:  "Engraved  Work  of  Turner,"  Vol.  II,  p.  314. 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


Armstrong:  ''Turner,"  1902,  p.  226,  gives  details  of  this  drawing  and 
of  the  three  following: 

(a)  Circa  1812.  Formerly  in  the  Heugh  Collection.  "In  gleam 
of  light  against  dark  squally  sky.  Hauling  up  boat  on  the  left." 
Engraved  by  W.  B.  Cook,  181 4,  for  South  Coast  Series.  Bell: 
''Exhibited  Works  of  Turner,"  p.  164. 

(b)  Formerly  in  the  collection  of  Sir  Donald  Currie.  (Circa  9 
inches  by  12  inches.)  '""Uniformly  dark  sky.  Figures  on  sand  in  the 
foreground.   Little  colour.  Sketch." 

(c)  Circa  1836.  Formerly  in  the  Craven  Collection,  and  in  the 
Leyland  Collection,  sold  at  Christie's  in  1872.  (12  inches  by  17% 
inches.)  "Breaking  up  wreckage,  and  loading  on  pack-horses.  Hail 
squall  to  the  right."  Engraved  by  S.  Fisher,  1838,  in  "England  and 
Wales." 

To  these  should  be  added  another  drawing,  in  which  "the  Mount  does 
not  appear,"  in  the  National  Gallery.  Rawlinson:  "Engraved  Work 
of  Turner,"  Vol.  H,  p.  387. 

Armstrong:  "Turner,"  p.  228,  and  C.  F.  Bell:  "Exhibited  Works  of 
Turner,"  p.  125,  give  details  of  the  oil  painting  of  this  subject  in  the 
Sheepshanks  Collection  of  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  Catalogue 
of  1908,  No.  209.  It  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1834,  No. 
317.  In  it  "the  Mount  is  lighted  up  by  a  gleam  of  sunshine  and  seen 
across  a  stretch  of  wet  sand;  to  the  right,  the  sea  with  many  fishing- 
boats;  to  the  left,  large  sailing-vessels  drawn  up  on  shore;  in  the  fore- 
ground to  the  left,  a  buoy.  Stormy  sky.  (Canvas,  23  inches  by  30 
inches.)"  It  was  engraved  by  W.  Miller  and  J.  Cousen,  according  to 
Rawlinson:  "Engraved  Work  of  Turner,"  Vol.  II,  p.  354. 

J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A. 

English  School; 

No.  95    The  Great'  Whale. 

A  throng  of  people  are  on  the  sea-shore,  busily  engaged 
in  attempting,  with  the  aid  of  ropes  and  a  windlass,  to  capture 
a  whale,  the  tail  of  which  is  already  forced  up  in  the  air.  A 

[219] 


MRS.  TAFT'S  SITTING-ROOM 


crowd  of  spectators  on  the  shore,  and  numerous  persons  in 
boats.  Rocks  in  the  right  distance.  A  city  dimly  seen  on  the 
bay  beyond.   Blue  sky. 

3}i  inches  by  5^  inches.  (0.09x0.13) 

We  have  not  traced  the  pedigree  of  this  water-colour,  but  it  recalls  that 
of  "The  Stranded  Whale"  (4  inches  by  5^  inches),  sold  out  of  the 
collection  of  John  Feetham,  of  Oakfields,  Wej^bridge,  at  Christie's, 
May  27,  1895,  No.  112. 

Turner  painted  three  oil  pictures  of  "The  Whalers."  (See  Armstrong: 
"Turner,"  p.  236,  and  Bell,  p.  152.)  This  water-colour  is  wholly  dis- 
similar from  Turner's  oil  painting  of  "The  Whale  Ship,"  formerly  in 
the  Leyland  and  Seymour-Haden  Collections,  and  purchased  in  1896, 
through  the  Wolfe  Fund,  for  the  Metropolitan  Museum. 


LIST  OF  PAINTERS 

FLEMISH  SCHOOL 


Sir  A.  van  Dyck   1599-1641 

Number  14 
DUTCH  SCHOOL 

Frans  Hals   i58o?-i666 

Numbers  17,  19,  27,  28 

A.  van  der  Neer   1 603-1 677 

Number  40 

Rembrandt   1 606-1 669 

Numbers  13,  15 

Adriaen  van  Ostade   1610-1685 

Numbers  i8,  53 

Ferdinand  Bol   1 616-1680 

Number  9 

Gerard  Terborch   1617-1681 

Number  ii 

Jan  Steen   1626?-! 679 

Number  lo 

Jacob  van  Ruisdael   i628?-i682 

Number  78 

Meindert  Hobbema   163 8-1709 

Number  20 


Josef  Israels  1824-1911 

Numbers  65,  68 

J.  H.  Weissenbruch   18  24-1 903 

Number  71 

Jacob  Maris  1837-1899 

Numbers  66,  69,  82 

Anton  Mauve  1 838-1 888 

Numbers  4,  70 


•    LIST  OF  PAINTERS 
Matthew  Maris  1 839-1917 

Number  64 

Willem  Maris  1 843-1910 

Numbers  2,  67 
ENGLISH  SCHOOL 

Sir  J.  Reynolds,  P.R.A  1 723-1 792 

Numbers  34,  35 

T.  Gainsborough,  R.A  1 727-1 788 

Numbers  i,  21,  63 

George  Romney  1 734-1 802 

Number  24 

Sir  H.  Raeburn,  R.A  1756-1823 

Numbers  56,  59 

J.  Hoppner,  R.A  1 758-1810 

Numbers  22,  25,  36 

Sir  T.  Lawrence,  P.R.A  1 769-1 830 

Number  58 

J.  M.  W.  Turner,  R.A  1775-1851 

Numbers  7,  8,  26,  84,  86,  87,  88,  89,  90,  93,  94,  95 

J.  Constable,  R.A  1776-1837 

Number  41 

Sir  Laurence  Alma-Tadema,  R.A.,  O.M.    .   .   .  1836-19 12 

Number  76 

Harrington  Mann  Contemporary 

Number  81 
FRENCH  SCHOOL 

J.  B.  C.  Corot  1796-1875 

Numbers  16,  37,  38,  39,  44 

A.  G.  Decamps  1 803-1 860 

Numbers  29,  47 

E.  L.  G.  Isabey  1804-1886 

Number  31 

N.  V.  Diaz  de  la  Pena  1 808-1 876 

Numbers  49,  51 

Troyon  ,  1810-1865 

Numbers  45,  55 

J.  Dupre  1812-1889 

Numbers  48,  54 
r  222  1 


LIST  OF  PAINTERS 


P.  E.  T.  Rousseau   1812-1867 

Numbers  3,  57,  62 

J.  F.  Millet    .   1 8 14-1875 

Numbers  12,  52 

J.  L.  E.  Meissonier   1815-1891 

Number  75 

C.  F.  Daubigny   1 8 17-1878 

Numbers  46,  50,  60 

F.  F.  G.  P.  Ziem   1821-1911 

Numbers  30,  32 

A.  Monticelli   1824-18 86 

Number  5 

J.  C.  Cazin    .   .   .   1841-1901 

Number  7a 
SPANISH  SCHOOL 

F.  Goya    1746-1828 

Numbers  6,  23 

M.  Fortuny  y  Carbo   1 838-1 874 

Number  6i 

Raimundo  de  Madrazo  Contemporary 

Numbers  42,  43,  73,  74 

Ricardo  de  Madrazo  Contemporary 

Number  80 

Joaquin  Sorolla  y  Bastida  Contemporary 

Number  33 

AMERICAN  SCHOOL 

Charles  Willson  Peale   1741-1827 

Number  83 

Henry  F.  Farny   1847-19 16 

Numbers  79,  91,  92 

Frank  Duveneck   1 848-1919 

Number  77 

W.  M.  Chase,  N.A.   1849-1916 

Number  85 


I 


INDEX 


Abington,  Frances,  131 
Actresses,  XVIII  Century,  131 
Adorno  family,  51 
Agnew,  Lockett,  6,  65 
Alba,  Duchess  of,  24,  90 
Albemarle,  Second  Earl  of,  73 
America,  Mrs.  Mary  Robinson, 

born  in,  129 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  82,  186 
Apremont,  Gorges  d',  xxxii 
Argyll,  Elizabeth,  Duchess  of,  76 
Art  in  America,  13,  14,  129 

Baddeley,  Sophia,  131 

Barbizon,  x,  xxx,  xxxi,  xxxii,  xxxiii,  16, 

42,  44,  157,  186 
Beechey,  85 

Bellamy,  George  Anne,  131 
Belle  Croix,  Le  Plateau  de,  17 
Birkenhead,  Lord  Chancellor,  xii 
Bonheur,  Rosa,  57 
Bottin,  Le,  155,  159 
Bredenhof,  Adriana,  110 
Brederode,  xxv 
Brighthelmstone,  100,  131 
Brignole  Sale,  51 
Bunbury,  Charles  John,  100 
Bunbury,  Henry  William,  99,  100 
Bunbury,  Lady  Sarah,  100 
Bunbury  Mile,  The,  100 
Bunbury,  Mrs.  Henry  William.  See 

Horneck,  Miss  Catherine' 
Bunbury,  Sir  Charles  James,  97,  98 
Bunbury,  Sir  Henry,  loi 
Bunbury,  Sir  Thomas  Charles,  100 
Burney,  Fanny,  94,  97 
Buttery,  A.  H.,  106 


Carlos  IV,  Court  of,  21,  22,  23 
Caroline  of  Brunswick,  131 
Carpenter,  Lady  Almeria,  78 
Cat,  Christopher  ("Kit"),  86 
Charles  I,  50 
Charles  X  of  France,  139 
Chinese  Porcelains,  x 
Christie's,  Sales  at: 

April  10,  1797,  86 

May  17,  1806,  80 

May  10,  1851,  38 

July  31,  1851,  40  ** 

April  24,  1874,  27 

April  9,  1875,  212 

May  5,  1888,  27 

June  2,  1888,  209 

May  18,  1889,  212 

June  29,  1889,  93 

July  13,  1889,  71 

June  27,  1890,  214 

July  22,  1893,  102 

May  18,  1895,  211 

May  27,  1895,  215,  220 

July  10,  1897,  164 

May  6,  1898,  217 

May  5,  1900,  173 

June  II,  1904,  80,  85 

June  30,  1906,  29 

May  21,  1908,  159 

May  6,  1910,  38,  132 

June  21,  1912,  212 

July  5,  1912,  213 

July  3,  1914,  58 
Cincinnati,  ix,  xi,  xii,  xiii,  192 
Cincinnati  Art  Academy,  xxiv,  148 
Cincinnatus,  L.  Quinctius,  ix 
Claude,  xxx 


1:225: 


INDEX 


Clements,  Dorothy,  73,  75 
Cleopatra,  xi 
Collections,  Private: 

Abercorn,  Duke  of,  52 

Agnew,  C.  Morland,  217 

Agnew,  Thomas,  30 

Ames,  F.  L.,  114 

Asalto,  Conde  de,  89 

Ashburnham,  Lord,  47 

Ashburton,  Earl  of,  194 

Ashburton,  Lady,  209,  210 

Astor,  Lord,  loi 

Bacon,  Sir  Hickman,  214 

Baring,  Alexander,  194 

Beattie,  William,  170 

Belvoir,  128 

Bentham,  Francis,  174 

Berwick,  Lord,  30 

Beurnonville,  34,  57 

Bire,  65 

Bolckow,  27 

Breysse,  218 

Brignole  Sale,  53 

Brown,  W.,  40 

Buckingham  Palace,  85 

Buckley,  Abel,  102,  103 

Bunbury,  95,  100 

Bunbury,  Sir  Edward,  loi 

Bunny  Hall,  137,  138,  140 

Burnett,  George  W.,  43,  153 

Cambridge,  Duke  of,  xix,  80,  85 

Cassels,  W.  R.,  29,  30 

Charles  I,  50 

Cheramy,  146 

Claude,  v.,  161 

Claudon,  G.,  159 

Coats,  Archibald,  xxxi,  58,  160 

Cochin,  Denys,  23 

Collot,  156 

Conde,  84,  85 

Constable,  145 

Coope,  O.  E.,  xix,  38,  132 

Crabbe,  58 

Craven,  219 

Cunliffe-Lister,  71 

Currie,  Sir  Donald,  219 

Dalton,  Mrs.,  213 


Collections,  Private,  continued 
Darnley,  Earl  of,  31 
D'Artez,  173 
De  Falbe,  Madame,  140 
Defoer,  58,  117 
Demidoff,  San  Donato,  71,  72, 
De  St.  Albin,  xxx,  140,  142 
De  Varange,  i6i 
Dillon,  217 
Dorfold,  II 
D'Orleans,  Due,  30 
D'Orsay,  65 

Drucker,  J.  C.  J.,  15,  179,  181 
Drummond,  loi 
Elkins,  181 

Essex,  Earl  of,  102,  103 

Exton,  7 

Farnley,  212 

Fawkes,  F.  H.,  212,  213 

Fawkes,  Walter,  211,  214 

Feetham,  215 

Forbes,  J.  Staats,  xviii,  180 
Fordham,  Edward,  217,  220 
Fowler,  Sir  John,  217 
Fraissinet,  153 
Galdeano,  Lazaro,  89 
Gardner,  Mrs.  J.  L.,  31 
Gary,  Judge  E.  H.,  80 
Glenconner,  Lord,  100 
Goll  van  Frankenstein,  161 
Greenwood,  214 
Greffier,  Fagel,  71 
Gurney,  George,  218 
Gwyn,  93,  100 
Hainauer,  34 

Hamilton,  Emma,  Lady,  90 
H anbury  Tracy,  71 
Hartmann,  44,  45 
Harvey,  Henry,  41 
Harvey,  William,  41 
Havemeyer,  H.  O.,  23,  181 
Henry,  H.  S.,  114 
Hesse,  Prince  Frederick  of,  85 
Heugh,  John,  27,  218,  219 
Hippisley,  207 
Hoet,  Gerard,  40 
Holderness,  Countess  of,  71 


INDEX 


Collections,  Private,  continued 
Hollins,  207 
Horne,  Herbert,  214 
Johnson,  John,  92 
Johnson,  John  G.,  39 
Kann,  Maurice,  x,  170 
Kennedy,  T.  S.,  211 
Kimball,  Chicago,  100 
Lane,  Sir  Hugh,  54 
Levinge,  Sir  R.  W.,  137,  138,  140 
Levy,  39,  214 
Leyland,  219,  220 
Lormier,  W.,  40 
Luquet,  153 
Lutz,  Georges,  172 
Marquand,  Henry  G.,  93 
Marton  Hall,  27 
Michelham,  Lord,  92 
Midleton,  Lord,  40 
Mieville,  39 

Moore,  Mrs.  Bloomfield,  173 
Munro,  H.  A.  J.,  of  Novar,  xxvii, 

xxviii,  132,  209,  210,  218 
Murray,  C.  Fairfax,  53 
Nettlefold,  207 
Neumann,  Ludwig,  9 
Neven,  66 
Niesewand,  66 
Normanton,  Lord,  95 
Orrock,  James,  145 
Ortgies,  213 
Peale,  202 

Pembroke,  Earl  of,  56 
Pereire,  161 

Pourtales-Gorgier,  xvi,  47,  48 
Pruijssenaar,  40 
Puncet,  Senor  Enriquet,  89 
Quilter,  William,  212,  215 
Rawdon,  General,  212 
Roberts,  Humphrey,  159,  207,  214 
Romer  Williams,  147 
Rothschild,  Baroness  N.  de,'  156 
Ruskin,  John,  207,  213,  214,  217 
Ruston,  Joseph,  212 
Sanderson,  Arthur,  xxx,  60,  62,  146, 
147 

San  Donato,  71,  72,  161 


Collections,  Private,  continued 
San  Telmo,  23 

Secretan,  xxii,  xxvi,  43,  71,  114 
Sedelmeyer,  213 
Seilliere,  Baron  Achille,  x 
Seymour  Haden,  220 
Simeon,  Sir  J.,  207 
Simpson,  John  W.,  181 
Smith,  John,  132 
Stchoukine,  Ivan,  89 
Stecki,  33 

Stewart,  A.  T.,  154 
Stransky,  Josef,  193 
Swinburne,  Julia,  213 
Talbot  of  Malahide,  Lord,  105,  106, 
107 

Taylor,  J.  E.,  212 
Tennant,  Sir  Charles,  100 
Tersteeg,  H.  G.,  15,  179 
Theobald,  W.,  38 
Thiery,  187 

Thomond,  Marchioness  of,  132 

Thwaites,  Mrs.,  77 

Tilghman,  Oswald,  202 

Tilghman,  General  Tench,  202 

Tollemache,  Henry  James,  6 

Van  Hoek,  Adriaen,  40 

Van  Horne,  34 

Van  Praet,  113 

Van  Tongeren,  Johan,  40 

Van  Wisselingh,  E.,  45 

Verdier,  194 

Von  Hessling,  193 

Von  Hollitscher,  109 

Warnier,  143 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  39,  167 
Wertheimer,  C.  J.,  92,  138 
Wharncliffe,  Lord,  132 
White,  E.  F.,  207 
Whitney,  Mrs.  H.  P.,  181 
Widener,  Joseph  E.,  52,  54,  93 
Widener,  P.  A.  B.,  137 
Williams,  Mrs.,  218 
Willys,  J.  N.,  138,  170 
Wilson,  Colonel  J.  C,  202 
Windus,  B.  G.,  217 
Yerkes,  161 


[227] 


INDEX 


Collections,  Private,  continued 
Young,  Alexander,  xxxi,  15,  141, 

159,  i8i 
Zuloaga,  D.  Placido,  89 
Cologne,  Sale  at,  66 
Combe  St.  Nicholas,  117 
Constable,  John,  xxxi,  xxxiii,  xxxiv, 

16,  157 
Corot,  16 

Corwen  Bridge,  102 
Cosway,  Richard,  86,  133 
Coventry,  Maria,  Countess  of,  76,  77 
Crome,  John,  70 

Cumberland,  Anne,  Duchess  of,  78,  80 
Cumberland,  Henry  Frederick, 
Duke  of,  78,  80,  136 

Dance,  Sir  Nathaniel,  125,  136 
D'Arblay,  Madame,  94,  97 
De  Keyser,  Thomas,  46,  48 
Devillers,  143,  153 

Devonshire,  Georgiana,  Duchess  of, 

75,  76,  81,  128 
Dobson,  Austin,  96 
Dorimont,  74,  77 
Dupre,  Jules,  154 

Duveneck,  F.,  xii,  xxiv,  192,  194,  208 
Dysart,  Charlotte,  Countess  of,  73, 
74,  128 

East  India  Company,  Honourable, 

136,  170 
Europa,  Legend  of,  29 
Exhibitions : 

Agnew's  Galleries,  1899,  77 

 Feb.,  1904,  218 

  1904,  81,  215 

  1905,  88 

  1906,  9,  10 

Amsterdam,  1898,  47 

Antwerp,  1899,  53 

Berlin,  1908,  85,  92 

British  Institution,  1813,  88 

  1817,  137,  138 

  1852,  132 

Brussels,  156 

Burlington  Club,  1871,  217 


Exhibitions,  continued 

Cooke's,  Soho  Square,  1822,  167 
Corot  Centenary,  1895,  58 
Corot,  CEuvre  de,  1875,  218 
Diisseldorf,  i886,  66 
Edinburgh,  1877,  164 
Fawkes's  House,  1819,  211 
French  Galleries,  1909,  176 

  1911,  15 

Glasgow,  1901,  104 

Grafton  Galleries,  1909-1910,  52 

  1911,  93 

Grosvenor  Gallery,  1888,  132,  145 
Guildhall,  1895,  41 

  1899,  29,  103,  212,  217 

  1900,  77 

  1903,  15,  55,  179,  180 

Hudson-Fulton,  1909,  106 
Lawrence  Drawings,  1913,  167 
Leeds,  1839,  214 
  1868,  41,  212 

Loan,  Exhibited  on,  in  New  York, 
II,  38,  47,  55,  63,  71,  82,  88,  92, 
105,  108,  126,  139,  164,  171,  194 
Loan  Exhibition,  London,  1871,  212 
Loan  Exhibition,  New  York,  Jan., 
1915,  89 

Loan  Exhibitions  at  Burlington 

House,  13 
Manchester,  1857,  102 
Montreal,  loi 

Moon,  Boys  and  Graves,  1833,  215 
National  Exhibition  of  Portraits, 

Madrid,  89 
Paris,  Cent  Chefs  d'CEuvre,  114 
Paris,  Durand  Ruel  Galleries,  1878, 

142 

Paris,  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  1875, 
142 

Paris  Exhibition,  1867,  159 
Paris,  Exposition  de  Cent  Portraits, 
1909,  85 

Paris,  Georges  Petit  Galleries, 
1883,  142 

 1892,  146 

  Salon,  145 

 1850,  156 

8^ 


INDEX 


Exhibitions,  continued 

 1857,  115 

 1861,  159 

 1866,  156 

Royal  Academy,  1772,  83 

  1775,  128 

  1776,  128 

  1779,  80,  84 

  1783,  7,  83 

  1784,  6,  7,  II 

  1790,  100 

  1794,  137,  138 

  1802,  144 

  1834,  219 

  1870,  13,  91 

  1873,  212 

  1875,  88 

  1878,  102 

  1885,  27 

  1887,  207,  213 

  1889,  6,  8,  217 

  1891,  100,  lOI 

  1892,  218 

  1895,  102,  103 

  1898,  47,  48 

  1902,  61 

  1904,  67 

  1906,  213 

Scott  and  Fowles  Galleries,  11,  38, 
47,  55,  63,  71,  82,  88,  92,  105,  108, 
126,  139,  164,  171,  194 
Society  of  Artists,  1761,  84 
South  Kensington,  1867,  100 
Water  Colour  Society,  Old,  1870, 
212 

Exton,  Fire  at,  7 

"Fallacies  of  Hope,"  xxix 
Felton,  Lavinia,  131 
Fire  at  Belvoir,  128 
Fire  at  Exton,  7  ' 
Fisher,  Kitty,  131 
Fitzherbert,  Mrs.,  78,  131,  133 
Florizel,  Prince,  130,  131 
Fontainebleau,  Forest  of,  xxxii,  158, 
164 


Fowles,  Charles  Frederick,  xi,  xxix, 

200,  201,  213 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  129 
Eraser,  Edward  Satchwell,  11 
Eraser  family,  164,  i68 
Fraser-Tytler  family,  164 

Gainsborough,  xxi,  122,  127,  133,  163 
Galleries,  Public: 

Amsterdam,  xvii,  34,  55 

Berlin,  32,  109 

Brunswick,  33 

Buffalo,  200 

Chantilly,  84,  85 

Cincinnati,  xi,  148 

Dordrecht,  34 

Edinburgh,  72,  212 

Florence,  Uffizi,  208 

Haarlem,  xvi,  59,  62,  109 

London: 

National  Gallery,  xxix,  13,  31,  43, 

104,  io6,  107,  128 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  28, 

147,  219 

Wallace  Collection,  xvi,  54,  127, 
133,  211 
Madrid,  23,  31 
New  York: 

Historical  Society,  202 
Metropolitan  Museum,  82,  105, 
106,  109,  115,  i8i,  220 
Paris,  Louvre,  x,  xxx,  116,  155 
Petrograd,  Hermitage,  39 
Rheims,  143 
St.  Louis,  200 
Vienna,  Albertina,  34 
Garrick,  David,  129 
Genoa,  49,  51,  52,  54 
George  II,  76 
George  III,  78,  80,  81 
George,  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards 

George  II,  76 
George,  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards 
George  IV,  xix,  78,  80,  130,  131, 
133 

Giotto,  xxxiv,  57 


1^ 


INDEX 


Gloucester,  William  Frederick,  Duke 
of,  79 

Gloucester  and  Edinburgh,  William 
Henry,  Duke  of,  77,  78,  79 

Godoy,  Manuel,  23 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  xx,  95,  96,  98,  99, 
100,  lOI 

Gooden,  Stephen,  174 

Graham,  Hon.  Mrs.,  72 

Gunning,  The  Sisters,  76 

Gwyn,  Colonel,  97,  99 

Halls,  Francis,  107 

Halls,  Frank,  107 

Hals,  Frans,  xxi,  40,  46,  107 

Hamilton,  Elizabeth,  Duchess  of,  76 

Heymann,  Madame,  45 

Hobbema,  46,  106,  147,  157,  193 

Holl,  R.A.,  Frank,  107 

Hooch,  Pieter  de,  69 

Hoppner,  Helen,  100 

Hoppner,  Henry  Parkyns,  137 

Hoppner,  John,  85,  165 

Horneck,  Captain  Charles  ("The  Cap- 
tain in  Lace"),  94,  95,  96,  100 

Horneck,  Captain  Kane  William,  94 

Horneck,  Miss  Catherine  ("Little  Com- 
edy"), 94,  95,  96,  99.  102 

Horneck,  Miss  Mary  ("The  Jessamy 
Bride"),  93,  94,  95,  96,  97,  99,  102, 
128 

Horneck,  Mrs.,  94,  95,  96,  97,  99,  loi 
Horton,  Mrs.    See  Cumberland, 

Duchess  of 
Humphrey,  Ozias,  77,  86 
Hunt,  William  Morris,  xxxii 
Hyde  Park,  76 

James,  Sir  William,  134,  135,  136 
Jessamy  Bride,  The.    See  Horneck, 

Miss  Mary 
Johnson,  Dr.,  94,  98 
Jordan,  Dora,  131 

Kauffman,  Angelica,  95,  96 
Keppel,  Frederick,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  73,  74 


Kit-cat,  81,  86 
Kranenburg,  18 

Laren,  18 

Lawrence,  87 

Leicester  Fields,  xxiv 

"Liber  Studiorum,"  25 

Limoges  Enamels,  x 

Limosin,  Leonard,  x 

Little  Comedy.   See  Horneck,  Miss 
Catherine 

London  and  Brighton  Railway  Com- 
pany, xviii 

Luca  della  Robbia,  x 

Luminarists,  xxxiii 

Liisitania,  The,  200 

Madrazo,  172 
Manet,  xxxiii,  193 

Mangles,  Hannah.  See  Mrs.  Horneck 
Maria  Luisa,  Queen,  20,  24 
Maris  brothers,  the,  18 
Maris  family,  the,  177 
Maris,  Jacob,  174 
Maryborough,  Lord,  166,  167 
Millet,  J.  F.,  xxxii,  xxxiii,  16 
Moore,  Thomas,  98 

Ninon  de  I'Enclos,  99 
Noble,  Thomas  S.,  148 
Northcote,  James,  96,  98,  99 
Norwich  School,  xxxiii,  70 
Nourse  family,  124,  125 

O'Brien,  Nellie,  131 

Ohio  River,  xiv,  xxiv 

Oise,  River,  xxxi,  155,  156,  159,  i6c 

Osuna,  Duchess  of,  90 

Overveen  Dunes,  xxv 

Painters  represented  in  this  Collection: 
Alma-Tadema,  Sir  L.:  "A  World  of 

their  Own"  (No.  76),  xxi,  174,  191 
Bol,  F.:  "Portrait  of  the  Artist"  (No. 

9),  xvii,  32 
Cazin,  J.  C:  "A  Landscape"  (No. 

72),  xxxii,  183 


INDEX 


Painters,  continued 

Chase,  W.  M.:  "The  Ponte  Vecchio, 

Florence"  (No.  85),  xxxiv,  208 
Constable,  J.,  R.A.:  "Dedham  Mill" 

(No.  41),  xxix,  144 
Corot,  J.  B.  C:  "The  Brook"  (No. 

39),  XXX,  142 
Corot,  J.  B.  C:  "Les  Environs  de 

Paris"  (No.  44),  xxxi,  153 
Corot,  J.  B.  C:  "Le  Soir"  (No.  16), 

XXX,  xxxi,  56 
Corot,  J.  B.  C:  "Souvenir  de  Riva : 

Evening  Glow"  (No.  38),  xxi,  141 
Corot,  J.  B.  C:  "At  Ville  d'Avray" 

(No.  37),  XXX,  xxxi,  140 
Daubigny,  C.  F. :  "Evening  on  the 

Oise"  (No.  46),  xxxi 
Daubigny,  C.  F. :  "Evening  Solitude" 

(No.  60),  xxxii,  172 
Daubigny,  C.  F. :  "A  River  Scene" 

(No.  50),  xxxi,  159 
Decamps,  G.  A.:  "Albanians"  (No. 

47),  156 

Decamps,  G.  A.:  "The  Man  with 
the  Sling"  (No.  29),  xxii,  xxvi, 
xxx,  113 

Diaz,  N.  v.:  "Early  Autumn:  Forest 
of  Fontainebleau"  (No.  51),  xxxi, 
160 

Diaz,  N.  v.:  "Oriental  Children" 
(No.  49),  xxxi,  158 

Dupre,  Jules:  "Landscape,  with 
Cattle"  (No.  54),  xxxi,  162 

Dupre,  Jules:  "Landscape,  with  Cat- 
tle Drinking"  (No.  48),  xxxi,  15 

Duveneck,  F.:  "The  Cobbler's  Ap- 
prentice" (No.  77),  xxiv,  192 

Farny,  H.  F. :  "The  Apaches  are 
Out!"  (No.  92),  xxxiv,  2i6 

Farny,  H.  F.:  "The  Hill  Behind  the 
School  House"  (No.  91 ),  xxxiv,  216 

Farny,  H.  F.:  "The  Song  of  the 
Talking  Wire"  (No.  79),  xxxiv, 
194 

Fortuny,  M.  J.  M.  B.:  "An  Arab 

Guard"  (No.  61),  xxiii,  172 
Gainsborough,   T.,  R.A. :  "Portrait 

[23 


Painters,  continued 

(supposed)  of  the  Artist"  (No. 
63),  174 

Gainsborough,  T.,  R.A. :  "Portrait  of 
Maria  Walpole,  Duchess  of 
Gloucester"  (No.  21),  xix,  xxii, 
72 

Gainsborough,  T.,  R.A. :  "Portraits 
of  William  and  Edward  Tomkin- 
son"  (No.  i),  XX,  xxvi,  3 

Goya,  F. :  "Portrait  of  Queen  Maria 
Luisa"  (No.  6),  xx,  xxii,  20 

Goya,  F.:  "Portrait  of  the  Toreador 
Joaquin  Rodriguez  Costillares" 
(No.  23),  xxiii,  89 

Hals,  F.:  "Portrait  of  a  Young  Man 
holding  his  Hat  to  his  Side"  (No. 
27),  xvi,  104 

Hals,  F.:  "Portrait  of  a  Young  Wo- 
man with  one  Arm  over  the  Back 
of  a  Chair"  (No.  28),  xvi,  xxii, 
108 

Hals,  F.:  "Portrait  of  Michielsz  de 
Wael"  (No.  17),  xv,  xvii,  xxx,  58 

Hals,  F.:  "The  Laughing  Boy"  (No. 
19),  65 

Hobbema,  M.:  "A  Landscape  with 
Cattle"  (No.  20),  xxii,  xxv,  xxvi, 
69 

Hoppner,  J.,  R.A.:  "Portrait  of  Miss 

Agnes    Coussmaker"     (No.  22), 

xxi,  xxii,  87 
Hoppner,  J.,  R.A.:  "Portrait  of  Mrs. 

Gwyn"  (No.  25),  xxii,  93 
Hoppner,  J.,  R.A.:  "Portrait  of  Mrs. 

Parkyns"  (No.  36),  xxi,  133 
Isabey,  E.  L.  G.:  "The  Sacrament" 

(No.  31),  xxii,  115 
Israels,  J.:  "Pick-a-back"  (No.  65), 

xviii,  176 
Israels,  J.:  "The  Sewing  School  at 

Katwijk"  (No.  68),  xviii,  179 
Lawrence,    Sir   T.,    P.R.A.:  "The 

Ladies  Maryborough"    (No.  58), 

xxi,  165 

Madrazo,  Raimundo  de:  "Portrait 

1 


INDEX 


Painters,  continued 

of  Mr.  Charles  Phelps  Taft"  (No. 

74),  xxiii,  184 
Madrazo,  Raimundo  de:  "Portrait 

of   Mrs.   Charles   Phelps  Taft" 

(No.  73),  xxiii,  183 
Madrazo,  Raimundo  de:  "Portrait 

of  Mr.  David  Sinton"  (No.  42), 

xxiii,  xxiv,  148 
Madrazo,  Raimundo  de:  "Portrait 

of  Mrs.  David  Sinton"  (No.  43), 

xxiii,  149 
Madrazo,  Ricardo  de:  "A  Courtyard 

in  Toledo"  (No.  80),  xxiii,  199 
Mann,    Harrington:    "Portrait  of 

Charles  Frederick  Fowles"  (No. 

81)  ,  xxi,  199 

Maris,  Jacob:  "Rotterdam"  (No. 

82)  ,  xxxiii,  201 

Maris,  Jacob :  "The  Quay  of  a  Dutch 

Town"  (No.  66),  xxxiii,  177 
Maris,  Jacob :  "A  View  of  a  Dutch 

Town"  (No.  69),  xxxiii,  180 
Maris,  Matthew:  "The  Boy  with  a 

Hoop"  (No.  64),  xviii,  xxxiii,  174 
Maris,  Willem:  "Cattle  in  the 

Meadows"  (No.  67),  xxxiii,  179 
Maris,  Willem:  "Ducks"  (No.  2), 

xxxiii,  14 
Mauve,  Anton:  "Cattle  Grazing" 

(No.  4),  xxxiv,  17 
Mauve,  Anton:  "Changing  Pasture" 

(No.  70),  xxxiv,  i8i 
Meissonier,  J.  L.  E. :  "Les  Bons 

Amis"  (No.  75),  xxii,  185 
Millet,  J.  F.:  "La  Maternite"  (No. 

12),  XV,  xviii,  xxi,  41 
Millet,  J.  F.:  "Mother  and  Child" 

(No.  52),  xxii,  160 
Monticelli,  Adolphe:  "Fete  Cham- 

petre"  (No.  5),  xxii,  19 
Peale,   Charles  Willson:  "Portrait 

of  George  Washington"  (No.  83), 

xxvii,  201 
Raeburn,  Sir  H.,  R.A.:  "Portrait  of 

Edward  Satchwell  Fraser"  (No. 

59),  XX,  168 


Painters,  continued 

Raeburn,  Sir  H.,  R.A.:  "Portrait  of 

Miss   Jane   Fraser-Tytler"  (No. 

56),  XX,  163 
Rembrandt:  "Portrait  of  a  Young 

Man  rising  from  his  Chair''  (No. 

13),  xvi,  45 
Rembrandt:  "Portrait  of  an  Elderly 

Woman"  (No.  15),  xvi,  54 
Reynolds,  Sir  J.,  P.R.A.:  "Portrait 

of  Mrs.  Weyland  and  her  eldest 

Son"  (No.  34),  xix,  122 
Reynolds,  Sir  J.,  P.R.A.:  "Portrait 

of  Mrs.  Mary  Robinson"  (No.  35), 

xix,  xxviii,  129 
Romney,  G. :  "Portrait  of  Mrs.  John 

Johnson"  (No.  24),  xx,  xxii,  90 
Rousseau,  P.  E.  T. :  "Evening:  Fon- 

tainebleau"  (No.  57),  xxxii,  164 
Rousseau,  P.  E.  T. :  "Fontainebleau" 

(No.  62),  xxxii,  173 
Rousseau,  P.  E.  T.:  "La  Mare  a 

Dagnan"  (No.  3),  xxxii,  16 
Sorolla,    J.:    "Portrait    of  Former 

President  William  Howard  Taft" 

(No.  33),  xxiii,  117 
Steen,  Jan:  "The  Sick  Lady"  (No. 

10),  xvii,  xix,  37 
Terborch,  G. :  "The  Sleeping  Sol- 
dier" (No.  n),  xvii,  39 
Troyon,  C. :  "French  Coast  Scene" 

(No.  55),  xxxii,  162 
Troyon,  C. :  "Vaches  a  I'Abreuvoir" 

(No.  45),  xxxii,  154 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A. :  "Chamonix" 

(No.  89),  xxvii,  213 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.:  "Folke- 
stone" (No.  84),  xxvii,  207 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A. :  "The  Great 

Whale"  (No.  95),  xxix,  219 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.:  "Jedburgh 

Abbey"  (No.  90),  xxviii,  215 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.:  "Johnnie 

Armstrong's   Tower"    (No.  86), 

xxvii,  209 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.:  "The  Lake 

of  Brienz"  (No.  87),  xxvii,  211 


1:232:] 


INDEX 


Painters,  continued 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.:  "The  Lake 
of  Nemi"  (No.  93),  xxvii,  217 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A. :  "Old  Lon- 
don Bridge"  (No.  7),  xxvii,  26 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A. :  "The  Rape 
of  Europa"  (No.  8),  xxviii,  28 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.:  "St. 
Michael's  Mount"  (No.  94),  xxviii, 

2l8 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A. :  "Thun" 

(No.  88),  xxviii,  212 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A. :  "The  Trout 

Stream"  (No.  26),  xxvii,  102 
Van  Dyck,  Sir  A.:  "Portrait  of  Pao- 

lina,  Marchesa  di  Brignole  Sale" 

(No.  14),  XV,  xvii,  49 
Van  Ostade,  Adriaen:  "Interior  of 

a    Carpenter's   Shop"    (No.  18), 

xvii,  64 

Van  Ostade,  Adriaen:  "The  Old 

Toper"  (No.  53),  xvii,  161 
Van  Ruisdael,  Jacob;  "View  on  a 

High  Road"  (No.  78),  xxv,  193 
Van  der  Neer,  A.:  "Landscape  with 

Figures"  (No.  40),  xxv,  143 
Weissenbruch,  J.  H.:  "A  Gray  Day 
in  Holland"  (No.  71),  xxxiv,  182 
Ziem,  F.  F.  G.:  "The  Entrance  to 
the  Grand  Canal,  Venice"  (No. 
32),  xxxii,  116 
Ziem,  F.  F.  G.:  "The  Piazza  of  San 
Marco,  Venice,  in  Time  of  Flood" 
(No.  30),  xxxii,  114 
Parkyns  family,  134 
Pasquin,  137 
Perdita,  129,  130 
Phelps  family,  184 
Philip  n,  31 
Polk,  Charles  Peale,  202 
Port  of  London,  26 
Portland,  Duke  of,  77 
Portraits  in  this  Collection: 

Adorno,  Paolina,  Marchesa  di  Brig- 
nole Sale  (No.  14),  51 
Bol,  Ferdinand  (No.  9),  33 


Portraits,  continued 

Costillares,  Joaquin  Rodriguez,  the 

Toreador  (No.  23),  89 
Coussmaker,  Miss  Agnes  (No.  22), 
88 

Fowles,  Charles  Frederick  (No.  81), 
200 

Fraser,  Edward  Satchwell  (No.  59), 
168 

Fraser-Tytler,  Jane  (No.  56),  163 
Gloucester,  Maria  Walpole,  Duchess 

of  (No.  21),  II,  72,  128 
Gwyn,  Mrs.  (No.  25),  93 
Johnson,  Mrs.  John  (No.  24),  91 
Maria  Luisa,  Queen  (No.  6),  21 
Maryborough,  The  Ladies  (No.  58), 

166 

Michielsz  de  Wael  (No.  17),  60 
Parkyns,  Mrs.  (No.  36),  133 
Robinson,  Mrs.  Mary  (No.  35),  129 
Sinton,  Mr.  David  (No.  42),  148 
Sinton,  Mrs.  David  (No.  43),  149 
Taft,  Mr.  Charles  Phelps  (No.  74), 
184 

Taft,  Mrs.  Charles  Phelps  (No.  73), 
183 

Taft,    Former    President  William 

Howard  (No.  33),  117 
Tomkinson,  William,  and  his  Cousin 
Edward  Tomkinson  (No.  i),  3,  127 
Toreador,  Joaquin  Rodriguez  Cos- 
tillares, The  (No.  23),  89 
Washington,  George  (No.  83),  202 
Weyland,  Mrs.  John,  and  her  Eldest 

Son  (No.  34),  122 
Unidentified: 

Elderly  Woman,  An  (No.  5),  54 
Laughing  Boy,  The  (No.  19),  65 
Young  Man  holding  his  Hat  to 

his  Side,  A  (No.  27),  104 
Young  Man  rising  from  his  Chair, 

A  (No.  13),  47 
Young  Woman,  with   one  Arm 
over  the  Back  of  a  Chair,  A 
(No.  28),  108 
Poussin,  N.,  xxviii,  xxx 
Princesses,  The  Three  Eldest,  6,  11,  86 


1:2333 


INDEX 


Professor  of  Perspective,  Turner  as, 
25,  211 

Raeburn,  11,  87,  91 

Rancliife,  Lady.    See  Parkyns,  Mrs. 

Rancliffe,  Lord,  134,  137 

Raphael's  "Ansidei  Madonna,"  107 

Rembrandt,  xvii,  xxi,  20,  21,  25,  32,  33, 

37,  40,  59,  60,  64,  70,  105,  106,  122 
Reynolds,  xxiv,  78,  83,  84,  85,  87,  88, 

93,  94,  95,  98,  100,  loi,  106,  163, 

165 

Robinson,  Mrs.  Mary,  78 

Robinson,  Mary,  "The  Belle  of  Butter- 
mere,"  133 

Robinson,  Thomas,  129 

Romero,  bull-fighter,  90 

Rousseau,  P.  E.  T.,  xxxvii,  17,  44,  45, 
154 

Royal  Academy: 

Catalogue  of  Old  Masters  Exhibi- 
tions, 128 

Diploma  Gallery,  147 

Exhibitions.    See  under  Exhibitions. 

Foundation  Members  of  the,  xxiv,  3, 
84,  122 

Instrument,  12 

President  of  the,  xix,  79 

Professorship  of  Perspective,  xxvii 

Schools,  24,  87 
Royal  Marriage  Act,  78,  83,  131 
Rubens,  46,  49,  50 
Rumford,  Count,  13 
Ruskin,  26,  45 

Scawen,  Captain,  100 

Scott  and  Fowles,  xi,  xii 

Sensier,  17,  44 

Shaw,  Quincy  A.,  xxxi,  44 

Sheridan,  129 

Sinton,  Mr.  David,  148 

Sinton,  Mrs.  David,  149 

Smith,  Sir  Frederick,  xii 

Sophia  Matilda,  Princess,  78,  79,  85 

Southey,  The  Poet,  100 

Stevenson,  R.  L.,  171 


Taft,  Mr.  Charles  Phelps,  x,  xi,  xiv, 
xxi,  xxiii,  xxix,  117,  184,  200,  2oi 

Taft,  Mrs.  Charles  Phelps,  x,  xi,  xiv, 
xxi,  xxiii,  xxix,  148,  149,  183 

Taft  family.  The,  184 

Taft,  Judge  Alphonso,  117,  184,  185 

Taft,  Robert,  185 

Taft,  William  Howard,  xxiii,  117,  185 

Tarleton,  Colonel,  131 

Tete  a  Tete,  Histories  of  the,  100,  130 

Thrale,  Mrs.,  100 

Titanic,  The,  200 

Titian,  xxviii,  24,  30,  31,  32,  54 

Titles  (other  than  Portraits)  : 

Albanians,  156 

Angelus,  The,  43 

"Apaches  are  Out!  The,"  216 

Arab  Guard,  173 

Arveyron,  The  Source  of  the,  213 

Ballad,  The,  156 

Blair's  Hut,  214 

Bonnieres,  River  Scene  near,  159 
Bons  Amis,  Les,  186 
Boy  with  a  Hoop,  The,  175 
Brook,  The,  142 

Carpenter's  Shop,  Interior  of  a,  64 

Cattle  Drinking,  157 

Cattle  Grazing,  18 

Cattle  in  the  Meadows,  179 

Chamonix,  213 

Changing  Pasture,  181 

Coast  Scene,  French,  162 

Cobbler's  Apprentice,  192 

Corwen  Bridge,  The  Dee  at,  102 

Courtyard  in  Toledo,  199 

Dee  at  Corwen  Bridge,  The,  102 

Ducks,  15 

Dutch  Town,  View  of  a,  180 

Early  Autumn:  Forest  of  Fontaine- 

bleau,  160 
Environs  de  Paris,  Les,  153 
Europa,  The  Rape  of,  28 
Evening:  Fontainebleau,  164 
Evening  Glow:  Souvenir  de  Riva, 

141 

Evening  Solitude,  172 
Fete  Champetre,  20 


INDEX 


Titles,  continued 
Fete  de  Pan,  La,  57 
Fighting  Temeraire,  The,  33 
Florence,  The  Ponte  Vecchio,  208 
Folkestone,  207 
Fontainebleau,  173 
Fontainebleau :  Evening,  164 
Forest  of  Fontainebleau,  The,  160 
French  Coast  Scene,  A,  162 
Frondeur,  Le,  113 
Gray  Day  in  Holland,  A,  182 
Great  Whale,  The,  219 
Hill  Behind  the  School  House,  216 
Interior  of  a  Carpenter's  Shop,  64 
Jedburgh  Abbey,  215 
Johnnie  Armstrong's  Tower,  209 
Lake  of  Brienz,  The,  25,  211 
Lake  of  Nemi,  The,  217 
Landscape,  183 
Landscape,  with  Cattle,  162 
Landscape,  with  Cattle  and  Figures, 
70 

Landscape,  with  Cattle  Drinking, 
157 

Landscape,  with  Figures,  143 

Love-sick  Lady,  The,  37 

Man  with  the  Sling,  The,  113 

Mare  a  Dagnan,  La,  17,  162 

Maternite,  La,  43,  153 

Mer  de  Glace,  213 

Mother  and  Child,  160 

Moulins,  Les,  70 

Old  London  Bridge,  26 

Old  Toper,  An,  161 

Oriental  Children,  158 

Pan,  La  Fete  de,  57 

Piazza  of  San  Marco,  Venice,  114 

Pick-a-Back,  177 

Ponte  Vecchio,  Florence,  The,  208 

Pool,  The,  172 

Port  of  London,  77 

Quay  of  a  Dutch  Town,  The,  178 

Rape  of  Europa,  28 

Ringgenberg  Castle,  211 

River  Scene  near  Bonnieres,  159 

Rotterdam,  201 

St.  Michael's  Mount,  218 


Titles,  continued 

Sewing  School  at  Katwijk,  179 
Sick  Lady,  The,  37 
Sisters,  The  Three  Lovely,  166 
Sleeping  Soldier,  The,  40 
Soir,  Le,  57 

Soldier,  The  Sleeping,  40 
Song  of  the  Talking  Wire,  The,  195 
Source  of  the  Arveyron,  The,  213 
Souvenir  de  Riva:  Evening  Glow, 
141 

Three  Lovely  Sisters,  The,  166 

Thun,  212,  213 

Toledo,  A  Courtyard  in,  199 

Trout  Stream,  The,  102 

Vaches  a  I'Abreuvoir,  154 

Venice  in  Time  of  Flood,  114 

View  of  a  Dutch  Town,  A,  180 

View  on  a  High  Road,  A,  194 

Ville  d'Avray,  At,  140 

Ville  d'Avray,  Les  Hauteurs  de,  153 

Whale,  The  Great,  219 

Whalers,  The,  220 

World  of  their  Own,  191 
Tollemache,  Henry  J.,  8 
Tollemache,  Lord,  6 
Tomkinson,  Edward,  3 
Tomkinson,  Edward  P.,  11 
Tomkinson,  James,  5,  6,  10 
Torrey  family.  The,  185 
Tonvn  and  Country  Magazine,  75,  77, 
100,  130 

Utrecht,  Sale  at,  62 

Van  Baersdorp,  Cornelia,  62 

Van  Dyck,  Sir  A.,  xxi 

Van  Eycks,  The,  xxx 

Van  Goyen,  xxviii 

Van  Ostade,  Adriaen,  37 

Van  Ruisdael,  Jacob,  69,  147,  157 

Van  Wisselingh,  Mrs.,  175 

Van  de  Velde,  Adriaen,  71,  73 

Van  der  Bank,  134 

Velazquez,  20,  46 

Victoria,  Queen,  80,  loi 


INDEX 


Waldegrave,  James,  Second  Earl  of, 

73,  74,  75,  76 
Waldegrave,  Maria,  Countess  of.  See 

Gloucester,  Duchess  of 
Waldegrave,  The  Ladies,  77 
Walpole,  Hon.  Sir  Edward,  73,  75 
Walpole,  Horace,  xx,  73,  74,  76,  77, 

78,  80 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  73 
Washington,  George,  201,  202 
Washington,  The  White  House,  117 
Wellesley,  Marquess  of,  166 
Wells,  Becky,  131 
West,  Benjamin,  xxiv,  79 
Wettenhall,  Nathaniel,  4 


Wettenhall,  William,  4 
Weybridge,  99 
Whistler,  208 
Wilson,  Mary  Jane,  202 
Wilson,  Richard,  xxviii 
Windsor,  79 
Windsor,  Old,  131 
Woffington,  Peg,  131 
Woodeaton,  Oxon,  124,  125 
Woodhouselee,  Lord,  164 
Woodrising,  Norfolk,  123,  124, 
Wynants,  xxvi 

Zandvoort,  176 


Finished  Printing 
February,  1920 


^^Here  taketh  the  Maker e  of  this  Book 
his  Leve.''^ 


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